Best Buy to Invite More Shoppers Inside Stores, No Appointment Needed
June 09 2020 - 4:30PM
Business Wire
Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) today announced that customers
soon will be able to safely and freely shop at the majority of our
stores without an appointment. Starting June 15, more than 800
locations across the country will begin allowing a limited number
of people inside. We’ll also continue to offer contactless curbside
pickup and in-store consultations for those who prefer to shop that
way.
“Throughout the pandemic, nothing has been more important to us
than the safety of our customers and employees,” said Ray Sliva,
president of retail. “We’re now confident we can provide a safe
experience for shoppers who want to visit our stores to browse, see
tech products firsthand and get helpful advice from our Blue Shirts
or Geek Squad Agents.”
Best Buy stores will continue to enforce social distancing by
limiting the number of customers inside the store to 25% of
capacity, which allows approximately 60 or more customers in a
store depending on its size. If a store reaches the limit, stores
will queue people in a line until they are able to shop. Stores
also will have floor signage to help customers and employees
maintain 6 feet of distance at all times.
To support this expanded store experience, we are bringing back
more than 9,000 of our previously furloughed full- and part-time
store employees and Geek Squad Agents.
Meanwhile, Best Buy will also begin resuming in-home
consultations, which have all been conducted virtually since March.
We will adhere to enhanced safety protocols while in customers’
homes, and we’ll continue to offer virtual consultations for anyone
who prefers that.
A focus on safety
Throughout the pandemic, we have adapted our operations to keep
our customers and employees safe. In March, we quickly switched our
stores to contactless curbside pickup and suspended deliveries,
installations and repairs in homes. We’ve since resumed those
in-home services, with added safety precautions, and created the
in-store consultation service.
Before deciding to allow customers to visit without an
appointment, we evaluated health and safety data for each community
where our stores are located. We worked closely with our field
leaders to ensure we could provide the safest possible shopping
experience for everyone involved and will continue to follow these
steps when considering whether to make a similar experience
available at our remaining Best Buy stores.
“Since the pandemic began, we’ve strived to provide customers
with as many options as possible for how to safely get the
technology they need,” Sliva said. “This is the next step in that
plan.”
In addition to limiting the number of people inside the store
and enforcing social distancing, we’ll also be following other
safety guidelines that meet or exceed CDC recommendations,
including:
- Mandatory self-health assessments, including temperature
checks, for all employees before each shift via Best Buy’s employee
app.
- Requiring employees to wear protective gear, including face
coverings, at all times. We ask that customers shopping in our
stores also wear face coverings, and we will provide them for those
who need them.
- Frequent sanitization of areas and surfaces within the store,
including demo products and checkout counters.
- Acrylic shields at checkout counters between customers and
employees.
- Dedicated shopping hours (Wednesdays from 10-11 a.m. local
time) for our elderly and vulnerable shoppers so they can feel safe
visiting our stores.
Click here to find more information
about your local Best Buy store, including the current hours and
services available.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200609005627/en/
Media Contact: Carly Charlson press@bestbuy.com
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