Updated April 28 @ 3:30 p.m. CDT
An Update From Best Buy CEO Corie Barry On How We Can Safely Get You What You Need
I genuinely hope you and your family are staying safe and feeling well. We all know the world continues to react to an unprecedented pandemic, and I wanted to update you on the ways in which Best Buy is evolving to meet our customers’ vital technology and appliance needs. Just as importantly, I want to share a big step forward in how we are now able to better serve you in your home.
Across the country — in virtually every city, county and state in which there is a stay-at-home order — we have been designated an “essential” retailer. This means the products we sell, from the equipment you need to work or learn from home to the appliances you need to care for your family at home, are considered critical as so many of us continue to engage in some form of self-quarantine. In our view, however, the conversation is now starting to move from what it means to be an “essential” retailer, to what it means to be a “safe” retailer.
It was with safety in mind that more than a month ago we suspended the part of our business that typically works in customers’ homes more than a million times a year. We did this despite being designated essential and even as others continued to deliver, install and repair in homes. Simply put, we made this decision because we could not look our employees — or you — in the eye and say we knew fully how to do this work safely.
Now, a month later, the world has learned much more about the virus, and we’ve taken the time to build what we believe are the right processes, acquire the right equipment, and create the right employee training. In short, we believe we’ve learned how to perform essential work in your home safely, for both you and our employees.
As a result, we are pleased to announce that we are returning to the kind of in-home work many customers have been asking for — the kind that fixes what’s broken, installs what’s missing, and improves the very technology we all need now more than ever. Our employees will follow new safety guidelines before, during and after an in-home visit that meet or exceed CDC guidance. These requirements will apply equally to any third party entering your home on our behalf.
To learn more about this process, including the use of protective equipment, social distancing practices and employee self-health checks, we invite you to watch this brief video. As you would expect, we will not offer this service in communities where local governments ask us not to or where, in our view, things are not as safe as we require.
Elsewhere at Best Buy, our contactless curbside service has been operating for about a month, and in that time we have helped many of you pick up your products within an hour of placing an online order. Many more have had their orders sent to their homes, with most arriving within two days. In both cases, all our precautions are consistent with federal health and safety guidelines and in keeping with our determination to be as safe as we possibly can.
Finally, a great number of people have taken advantage of our ability to troubleshoot and repair their technology remotely, using virtual tools that allow us to help from afar. So many Americans have been trying to create an effective office-like experience in their home or use technology to enable remote learning for their children. No matter the challenge, we can help you. You only have to go to Geek Squad remote support.
Looking ahead, we are planning how we will begin welcoming customers back into a number of our stores across the country. At some point soon, we will invite customers to shop Best Buy in person, in innovative ways that follow strict social distancing practices and use proper protective equipment. Any in-store shopping experience will initially be by appointment only, and we look forward to bringing this experience to some of you soon.
Please know that we remain committed to helping you stay connected to the people and things that matter to you the most. My hope for you and your loved ones is that you remain safe, and that together we see the other side of this crisis soon.
Corie Barry
CEO, Best Buy
Updated March 22 @ 9:30 a.m. CDT
An Update From Best Buy
To Our Customers:
Across the country these past several days, you have come to our stores to buy the technology and household necessities that are so valuable at a time like this. We remain determined to continue to serve you and are announcing today a new way of making our stores accessible while even further enhancing customer and employee safety.
In our stores
Beginning Sunday, March 22, we will offer contactless curbside service at all locations across the country where state or local laws allow. Rather than ask you to come into our stores, any items you order on BestBuy.com or the Best Buy app will be delivered to your car curbside. If, for any reason, you didn’t order the product in advance and the product is in stock in the store, one of our employees will be more than happy to go get it in the store and sell it to you while you remain in your car. This service also extends to returns and exchanges, the period for which has been extended on most products so that you have more time. Only employees will be allowed in the store, but we are determined to serve you as fully as we can. Unfortunately, we are temporarily unable to continue our product trade-in and recycling services.
For those who want to continue shopping with us online or on the app, we will, of course, still get you what you want.
In your home
As you know, Best Buy works in millions of customer homes each year, and we have long been proud of the services we provide. Because of the increased concern for you, your families and our employees, we have made the decision to suspend currently scheduled installations, haul-aways or repairs for large items like refrigerators, freezers, washers, dryers and TVs.
Beginning Monday, March 23, we will no longer deliver these large products into your home and will, instead, offer free doorstep delivery. This means we will take the item as close as we possibly can to the front door of your home without bringing it inside. We know that this change will be inconvenient, and we are truly sorry. It was made with our employees’ and your best interests at heart. If you have an order scheduled for installation in the next 30 days, please expect an email or text from Best Buy about your delivery options.
Employees
Speaking of our employees, everyone working right now is doing so on a voluntary basis, and all hourly employees who volunteer are receiving a temporary pay increase. Additionally, anyone feeling sick is told to stay home, and they will be paid for that time. Finally, anyone exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19 is also told to stay home, with pay, and we are paying employees who may need to stay home to care for their children.
All of us at Best Buy are grateful that so many states and localities believe we are an essential business, allowing us to continue to serve you when you need it most. We thank you for your patience and loyalty and look forward to continuing to provide you with the technology and home essentials you require to stay connected and work and learn from home. Thank you.
Updated March 19 @ 7:40 a.m. CDT
A Note From Best Buy CEO Corie Barry
To Our Customers,
Earlier this week, we announced changes to how Best Buy will run our business in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Against this backdrop, I wanted to share some of my thoughts about what we’re facing and how Best Buy is responding.
Right now, our role as a consumer electronics retailer is rapidly shifting and we are striving to make the best decisions with two goals in mind: The first is to protect our customers, employees and their families. The second is to do the best we can to serve the millions of Americans who are looking to us for increasingly vital technology tools to stay connected, as well as household necessities.
You are turning to us for help getting the technology that allows you to continue running a small business or shift your usual job from an office setting to your home. You are turning to us to help your children continue their education outside of their classroom. And, you are turning to us for necessities that allow you to store and prepare food for your family.
With these needs in mind and given our commitment to keep our employees and customers safe, we are shortening our store hours this week, and on March 23, will begin permitting only a small number of customers into the store at a time so we can enforce the necessary social distancing guidelines. We are also working to enhance our curbside service and strongly recommend you take advantage of this whenever possible.
As for our employees, let me start by saying this: We will not make any employee work if they aren’t comfortable doing so. Further, if an employee is sick or needs to take care of their children home from school, we are paying them. Additionally, with our reduced hours and less staff in the stores, we are paying affected employees for their regularly scheduled hours.
We are in a difficult time and find ourselves in uncharted waters. My best wishes to you and your family as we navigate the days ahead together.
Corie Barry, Chief Executive Officer
Best Buy
Updated March 17 @ 5:58 p.m. CDT
The situation we’re facing as a company and as individuals is unprecedented and changing at a pace all of us are working to keep up with. We are making the best decisions we can with two goals in mind: protecting employees, customers and their respective families, while trying our best to serve the millions of Americans who rely on us for increasingly vital technology that keeps them connected to their school and work, and for the appliances necessary to help them store and prepare food. Demand is high for these necessities, including for the millions of children who will now rely on technology to continue their education online.
Even as we meet this demand, we’ve already adjusted how we operate in many ways to improve safety. We believe it makes sense to keep our stores open in those places where it is allowed and advisable. We are, however, making a series of changes:
Starting Wednesday, March 18, store hours will be reduced to 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time. We will revisit on an ongoing basis the decision to remain open with shorter hours, but our intention is to operate this way through Sunday, March 22.
Starting Monday, March 23, and at least for the next two weeks, we will serve our customers through limited access to our stores and curbside pickup. This will be done with the intent of substantially reducing the number of people in stores (only 10-15 customers at a time) and hours will remain 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time.
There will only be a few employees in the store, and customers will be able to:
- Take advantage of limited services within the store, including finding a specific product. Customers will be escorted by an employee, maintaining the recommended social distancing separation of 6 feet and following the official guidance to not allow clusters of 10 or more people
- Pick up a product at curbside that they ordered ahead of time on BestBuy.com or the Best Buy app
- Drop off a product for Geek Squad repair
Of course, customers can still order on BestBuy.com and have their products shipped directly to their homes. Deliveries and installations will continue wherever permitted and under strict safety guidelines. All in-home consultations will be done virtually as of Wednesday, March 18.
These changes also require fewer employees working at any one time, and we intend to give employees not working two weeks’ pay. We have also relaxed our absence policy and will not penalize employees for missing work.
Posted March 10 @ 3:38 p.m. CDT
To our customers,
Like so many of you, we have spent the last several days and weeks learning about the coronavirus (COVID-19) and how it is impacting our world. For Best Buy, that means understanding how it affects our employees, customers and communities, and then making the necessary adjustments to our work and operations.
We have one simple objective that guides us: keeping you and our employees safe. This has been at the center of our conversations every step of the way. With that in mind, we have made several moves in our business in response to the threat of the coronavirus.
We have ramped up cleaning services at our stores and are adding hand sanitizer at the front entrances and at all cash registers. Sanitizing wipes are near workstations and counters so that employees can keep them continuously cleaned.
We are closely following the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) guidelines and recommendations on the steps we can take to help prevent the spread of the virus. We have shared specific instructions with our employees on the importance of washing their hands and staying home if they feel sick or are returning from an area of the world identified as posing a coronavirus-related risk. Per CDC recommendations, we will ask employees who have traveled to such locations or have been exposed to others who have traveled to such locations to self-quarantine for 14 days.
A strict travel policy for our employees is in place, and we have canceled meetings with large gatherings, again to do what we can to help prevent the spread of the illness.
If you don’t feel well, or choose not to visit one of our stores, of course we are ready to serve you at BestBuy.com or through the Best Buy app.
We know that many of you have scheduled in-home consultations, deliveries, installations or repairs with us. If you have any concerns, we will be happy to partner with you to reschedule your appointment at no additional cost. Simply call 1 888 BEST BUY, and we will take care of it. For in-home consultations, we offer options for phone or video conversations with our experts if you so choose.
We will continue to closely monitor the situation and do all we can to protect you and our employees.
Thank you.