What If Radio Shack Becomes Best Buy Mobile?
- Mar
- 26
- Posted by Ben Smith
- Posted in best buy, Blog, By Ben Smith, radio shack, retail, Why You Need Leverage

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So the rumor is out there – Radio Shack could be on the market, and Best Buy’s name has been tossed out as a suitor – we wanted to share our perspective on what it could mean. Best Buy and other retailers are known to be taking learnings from European Retail and applying them in the US. Best Buy’s own acquisition of Carphone Warehouse in the UK in 2008 could serve as a model for a potential acquisition of Radio Shack. While there are approximately 61 Best Buy Mobile stand alone stores in the US today, there are over 6,000 Radio Shack locations when you combine company owned stores, franchies, and wireless kiosks.
read moreRetail Leverage Tribe Has Spoken – Our Ideas For Garmin
- Feb
- 26
- Posted by Ben Smith
- Posted in Blog, By Ben Smith, Challenger Brand Strategies, marketing
- 1

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SUMMARY:
Last week we asked “How Can Retail Leverage Help Garmin?” We didn’t pretend to have the answer, but we did share lots of background on their current situation. We asked our readers to share any ideas/thoughts they had regarding Garmin’s dilemma and we were ecstatic with the response. Combine that with some “new” news from Garmin in the last couple of weeks, and it begs an update.
RETAIL LEVERAGE WEIGHS IN:
With the luxury of seeing these great ideas roll in from our community, @retailleverage has the benefit and privilege of building on the ideas that were shared …
Implications For Marketers From Walmart Sku Reductions
- Feb
- 22
- Posted by Vincent Young
- Posted in Blog, By Vincent Young, Challenger Brand Strategies, Strategies To Offer Retailers Financial Growth, wal-mart, Why You Need Leverage
- 4

THIS IS AN EXCERPT.
CLICK ON THE TITLE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE:
In order to effectively compete, challenger brands must learn to package innovative product offerings together with marketing programs designed to represent at least one of the following four forms of retailer financial growth:
FOUR WAYS TO OFFER RETAILERS FINANCIAL GROWTH:
1. Increase overall category demand
2. Increase the attach-rate of high-value complimentary items
3. Motivate a “trade-up” within the category
4. Help a given retailer win the war against another retailer
The most difficult thing for brands like Glad and Hefty is viewing themselves as challenger brands when their histories have been more reflective of the rare “power” brand.
read moreBest Buy Insider Provides Perspective On Fall Of Circuit City
- Feb
- 20
- Posted by Ben Smith
- Posted in best buy, Blog, By Ben Smith, Circuit City, wal-mart

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SUMMARY:
I found a great resource that fills in the blanks on Circuit City’s demise from a person I follow on twitter, @DonEames . He is a former Senior VP of Best Buy, and now has his own management consulting company. Even though he was inside the key rival of Circuit City, I believe he had front row seats to the demise. His analysis would be politically tough for a Circuit City insider to provide, especially given the it was just a year ago that the final stores shuttered.
Check it out – it is called “CIRCUIT CITY SIX: Six Fatal Mistakes of a Once “Good to Great” Company”. It is a quick and to the point read. I found it to provide valuable insight to both retailers and brands alike, and for that matter, consumers who used to shop there (or avoid it).
read moreBest Buy Is Your Best Strategy To Gain Retail Leverage
- Feb
- 08
- Posted by Ben Smith
- Posted in amazon.com, best buy, Blog, By Ben Smith, Challenger Brand Strategies, marketing, retail, walmart

THIS IS AN EXCERPT; TO READ FULL ARTICLE, CLICK ON TITLE.
SUMMARY:
Well the dust has settled and results from the Q4 holiday season are in. I realize that some of our readers are in the CE community and have ready access to retailer share. Note that I’m not quoting anything from NPD that I have access to for my job. I’m linking to a couple of public sources to point out that you can get a good idea of what is going on with a little digging (or you can get it from us)! The data I’m sharing is from consumer surveys conducted by 2 different firms, so take it with a grain of salt – it isn’t cash register data, but provides valuable perspective on where consumers look to purchase their electronics.
1) AD AGE ARTICLE SHOWS BEST BUY GAINING GROUND (WITH 33% SHARE)
2) RETREVO PULSE ARTICLE SAYS BEST BUY LOSING GROUND (BUT WITH 40% SHARE)
TAKEAWAY: CONSUMER ELECTRONICS STILL REVOLVES AROUND BEST BUY
Best Buy is the dominant player in Consumer Electronics, a king maker that has influence with consumers beyond whatever its share actually is (33% – 41%). Even as Walmart and Amazon grow share in the CE space, it is ultimately because people get more comfortable NOT making their purchase at Best Buy. If you are a CE manufacturer, not having your products at Best Buy robs you of credibility with consumers and key influencers. If you are an agency with clients who sell products at Best Buy, you need to know as much about Best Buy as your clients because it is your best route to success. If the products you sell can’t succeed at Best Buy, you will have little leverage wherever else you go to peddle your wares. Conversely, succeeding at Best Buy paves the way for success in other channels. Best Buy does the heavy lifting for other retailers that sell consumer electronics. They just have to look at what Best Buy assorts as a baseline and start from there. So get it right in the first place and base your plans on success at Best Buy. Retail leverage will flow from there.
4 Trends That Are Huge Obstacles For Challenger Brands
- Aug
- 03
- Posted by Vincent Young
- Posted in Blog, By Vincent Young, Why You Need Leverage
4 Trends That Are Huge Obstacles For Challenger Brands:
1) Improper Training
2) Retail Industry Consolidation
3) Private Label
4) Fewer Advertising Funds

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