CRM seems straightforward enough. But don't underestimate the real-world challenges. Read More information that customers can access directly. Customers can order a product over the Web and then pick it up in the store the very next day to avoid shipping fees. In those halcyon dotcom days when venture capitalists routinely paid for free shipping, nobody thought twice about costs.
Somebody has to pay for that.
Although it would cost that much to ship directly to the customer's home, Best Buy's well-developed logistics infrastructure allows the company to ship it from the warehouse to the store for pennies. Best Buy is reluctant to specify how much it has invested in CRM technology and implementation so far. The next outlay will be for personalization technology, which analyzes customer or buying habits over the Web, predicts what people are likely to buy and then offers it to them. Certainly Best Buy faces obstacles as it moves ahead with its CRM plans. But Roster, for one, thinks the company is on the right track.