INTERNET BUSINESS STRATEGY In the fifty years since Circuit City opened its first store, the company has become one of the best-known sources of consumer electronics in the world. Today Circuit City boasts over 600 stores and more than 50,000 associates. The company consistently strives to offer low, competitive prices, high service standards, and a wide selection of products to meet consumer needs.Circuit City has long prided itself on the outstanding shopping experience it offers to customers. In the 1990 s the company was early to see the value of the Internet for making that experience even better. However, they shunned the then-popular approach that many bricks-and-mortar retailers were adopting, where online channels were viewed as replacements for or alternatives to the traditional channel. Instead, Circuit City saw the Web as a way to complement its retail outlets and provide customers with more reasons to visit a store. To define, develop, and deploy its web strategy, Circuit City wanted a robust site that would replicate the customer experience in its Superstores while leveraging the advantages of 24-hour Internet access. Detailed product information, comparison capabilities, depth of selection, and immediate inventory information were critical features that the Circuit City web site required.Key Business IssuesCircuit City has competition at local marketstraditional electronic retailers as well as Internet-only players, including catalogers and national distributors. To expand upon its national reputation as a leading high-service, low-price retailer, Circuit City wanted a site that would leverage its national store presence. To do this, the site needed to seamlessly integrate its retail shops with a powerful e-Superstore that could provide quality service online while providing advantages of express pickup from nearby stores. The web strategy would then be tightly interlinked and interdependent with Circuit Citys core ...
