Google And Best Buy Partner On Mobile Apps
Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
Electronics retailer Best Buy has partnered with Google to help Best Buy compete in the mobile sales arena.
One key aspect to their multiphase plan involves collaborating with Google on a series of exclusive mobile applications, the first one being a shopping app that helps customers find the item they’re looking for within their nearest Best Buy store.
Barry Judge, Best Buy chief marketing officer, says that the new applications, which also include Facebook apps that will appear on the company’s branded page, take advantage of the company’s ‘Remix application programming interface’. This allows third-party developers to access Best Buy’s inventory data, pricing, and product images for use in their Web or mobile applications.
The first of several Google-created Best Buy applications is expected to launch in Nov./09. The new app will allow consumers to do product searches and then will provide them with the location and directions to their nearest Best Buy store – and even direct the user to the exact location of the product within the store itself.
Phones sold in Best Buy will include the app pre-loaded onto the handsets prior to purchase. Also coming are apps designed specifically for Android, Google’s mobile operating system, but there’s no word yet as to what those apps will be. Best Buy currently carries two models of Android phones, the G1 and the myTouch 3G.
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