16/09/2025
BEST BUY’S PLAN FOR A WORLD IN TRANSFORMATION
Today, about 40% of sales start and end online, and this year Best Buy is introducing scheduled delivery in small parcels, complementing its delivery of large products and appliance installation across North America. Irvin explained the strategy: “You can use technology to figure out how that tech, that appliance, shows up at your house, and then you can click a button and schedule the delivery and the installation in your home. We've brought that across the line so now you can do the exact same thing with electronics and small products,” he says.
While Best Buy has focused on optimising supply and delivery services, it is not immune to the macro environment, and in recent years has had to cope with a pandemic, climate volatility, regional conflict, and most recently, tariffs. “One of the things we have always tried to do in positioning the supply chain is to be agile. It has to be able to dynamically respond to the world events we know about as well as the ones we don't,” Irvin reflects. “You also have to have a supply chain that has visibility both upstream and downstream. This comes down to: where's my stuff?"
"If you're in supply chain, you love problem solving. That's the art of supply chain."
Much of Best Buy's visibility has been achieved through collaborations with partners and a supply chain "that can pivot on a dime." "If you're in supply chain, you love problem solving. That's the art of supply chain. What you're doing is taking the uncontrollable and making it controlled through insights, visibility, and being able to dynamically use partners and systems together to find the answer that keeps the supply chain open and running,” he stresses.
Part of that new agility is AI, and Best Buy has established digital twins of both its large products and appliances, and its electronics and small items categories. It also runs simulation models to understand what events are currently happening and the impacts they might have throughout the process. “What it lets you do is to test and learn in an environment that isn't real,” says Irvin.
“You're not just testing with people and disrupting lives, what you're trying to do is test in a digital world, give the insights, and then go back to your teams and tell the stories of the benefits that you've seen. Then you roll it out across the physical world. That's quite powerful.”
Conference / Keynote
Wednesday 17 September - 10:15am-10:45am
Delivering a world class supply chain through agility, ability and AI
Vusion Group Theatre, Hall 4
While Best Buy has focused on optimising supply and delivery services, it is not immune to the macro environment, and in recent years has had to cope with a pandemic, climate volatility, regional conflict, and most recently, tariffs. “One of the things we have always tried to do in positioning the supply chain is to be agile. It has to be able to dynamically respond to the world events we know about as well as the ones we don't,” Irvin reflects. “You also have to have a supply chain that has visibility both upstream and downstream. This comes down to: where's my stuff?"
"If you're in supply chain, you love problem solving. That's the art of supply chain."
Much of Best Buy's visibility has been achieved through collaborations with partners and a supply chain "that can pivot on a dime." "If you're in supply chain, you love problem solving. That's the art of supply chain. What you're doing is taking the uncontrollable and making it controlled through insights, visibility, and being able to dynamically use partners and systems together to find the answer that keeps the supply chain open and running,” he stresses.
Part of that new agility is AI, and Best Buy has established digital twins of both its large products and appliances, and its electronics and small items categories. It also runs simulation models to understand what events are currently happening and the impacts they might have throughout the process. “What it lets you do is to test and learn in an environment that isn't real,” says Irvin.
“You're not just testing with people and disrupting lives, what you're trying to do is test in a digital world, give the insights, and then go back to your teams and tell the stories of the benefits that you've seen. Then you roll it out across the physical world. That's quite powerful.”
Conference / Keynote
Wednesday 17 September - 10:15am-10:45am
Delivering a world class supply chain through agility, ability and AI
Vusion Group Theatre, Hall 4