Best Buy: Brick & Mortar Meets Social Media
Big box retailer Best Buy has recently launched their “Remix” program which allows 3rd party sites to pull Best Buy products directly onto their sites via an open API.
Sidenote: An API stands for “application programming interface” which is basically a way for one website to automatically talk to another (exhange/pull info) behind the scenes.
Imagine this scenario: Say you run a kickass social network site that appeals to home theater buffs. You talk about new equipment such as HDTV’s, HDMI connectors, surround sound speakers, etc. Via this new open API, you can actually display & sell Best Buy products directly into your site by pulling all the official product information, including photos and pricing. You don’t have to merely provide hotlinks which lead people off your site. And of course when people purchase these products through your site, you make money.
This is similar to the Amazon affiliate program, but is (to the best of my knowledge) a first for a traditional big box retailer.
Best Buy is in effect “colonizing” the web by allowing their products to be sold by any website that works with their open API. The website provides the user community & Best Buy provides the products. Pretty ingenious. Could be a little worrisome for Best Buy brand keepers since their products/name are not being associated with 3rd party sites, but I suppose time will time.
Will definitely be keeping an eye on this…
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Small Business Marketing on July 24, 2009 @ 11:59 pm
That’s a really great idea for Best buy. Thanks for sharing the update about the new API