五大锦囊妙计拯救百思买

    百思买（Best Buy）正在走下坡路。去年一年，公司股价下跌50%，核心高管纷纷跳槽。最近，公司数字战略负责人史蒂夫·吉列特跳槽并加入赛门铁克（Symantec）。公司意识到，私有化或许是最佳选择，于是延长了创始人理查德·舒尔茨针对公司出价的期限。

    不论上市还是私有化，百思买都必须确定未来的发展方向。它的核心业务日用电子商品零售业务已被迫终止，无法继续给公司带来利润。亚马逊（Amazon）等在线竞争对手使百思买沦落成一个臃肿的展厅，消费者到这里来触摸、感受产品，只是为了以更低的价格在线购买。百思买店铺的“导购员”对店内技术的无知一直为人诟病。相比之下，苹果（Apple）商店每一位穿蓝汗衫的员工已经成为苹果技术不可分割的一部分。

    百思买应该学习IBM，从销售低利润的日用商品，向销售高利润、高参与度的服务转变。不过，百思买不必像IBM一样，以《财富》百强（Fortune 100）公司为核心客户，而是面向中小企业和普通消费者。公司的核心资产包括其值得信赖的品牌和处于优势地位的房地产租约。百思买可以以全新的方式利用这两项资产，找到一条截然不同的发展道路——不再提供服务糟糕的日用商品，而是提供服务、培训和创新。

    下面是执行这一策略的五种方式：

    1. 提供现场培训、店内培训与在线培训。科技初创公司General Assembly等已经创建了一个非常成功的数字培训中心网络。百思买可以与GA或其他培训服务提供商合作，将其大卖场作为培训中心。与直接向消费者销售商品化的平面屏幕相比，这种方式不仅可以带来高利润的收入，还可以加深消费者的参与度。百思买还可以到公司园区安排现场培训。许多公司都在努力跟上科技发展的步伐，如果有一家知名的、全国性的培训提供商能到现场对其员工进行培训，这些公司肯定会非常欢迎。

    此外，百思买还可以与微软（Microsoft）、思科（Cisco）、在线客户关系管理服务供应商Salesforce.com等公司合作，提供在线与现场培训。此外，公司还可以与Udacity、Coursera等在线课程提供商合作，为其课堂提供视频会议与学习活动的共用空间。

    Best Buy is in a downward spiral. The company's stock price is down 50% over the last year and key executives have jumped ship. Best Buy's head of digital strategy, Steve Gillett, left recently to join Symantec. The company has given its founder, Richard Schulze, an extended period to put a bid together for the company -- sensing that going private may be its best option.

    Whether Best Buy (BBY) stays public or not, it must define a roadmap for its future. The core business of retailing commodity electronics is broken and will not produce ongoing profits. Online competitors like Amazon (AMZN) have forced Best Buy into becoming a bloated showroom for consumers to touch and feel product only to buy the same product online for less. Best Buy's store "helpers" are notoriously uninformed about the technologies in the store. Compare the experience with an Apple (AAPL) store where nearly every blue-shirter is personally embedded in Apple technology.

    Best Buy should take a page from the IBM (IBM) playbook and shift from low-margin sales of commodity products to high-margin and high-engagement services. Instead of focusing on the Fortune 100 as IBM does, however, Best Buy can serve small and medium-sized business and consumers. Among the core assets of the company are its trusted brand and its well-placed real estate leases. Best Buy can leverage these two assets in a new way to deliver a fundamentally different proposition -- instead of offering commodity product with poor service, Best Buy can offer services, training and innovation.

    Here are five tactics to implement this strategy:

    1. Offer on site, in-store and online training. Companies such as General Assembly (GA) have created successful networks of digital training centers. Best Buy can bring in GA or other providers and use part of their big box stores as training centers. This will bring in high-profit streams of revenue while engaging the customer in a much deeper way than selling them a commoditized flat screen. Best Buy could also arrange for on site training at corporate campuses. Companies are struggling to keep up with the latest technologies and would welcome a brand-name, national training provider to teach their employees on site.

    Best Buy can partner with Microsoft (MSFT), Cisco (CSCO), Salesforce.com (CRM) and others to deliver online and on site training modules. It can also work with Udacity, Coursera and other online course providers to offer a common space for video conferencing and study sessions for their classes.