• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, June 20, 2024

Best Buy, still struggling amid slowed consumer spending on electronics, is rolling out dozens of new Copilot+ PCs.

Best Buy is the exclusive retail partner for 40% of the latest Microsoft products and says it has trained 30,000 employees – including Blue Shirts and the Geek Squad – to help shoppers get acquainted with how these devices work.

The newly certified staff is ready to run in-store demos and will focus on AI features such as Windows Studio Effects, Cocreator and Live Captions. Additionally, 1,000 Geek Squad members have been trained in Best Buy’s new AI skillset. The Minneapolis-based retailer is showcasing AI devices from multiple other brands, including Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung.

And for those who prefer shopping online, the company is offering one-on-one tech guidance via video, voice or chat.

Sales have been slow at Best Buy, with management maintaining that revenues will improve as consumers move further along in replacement cycles. And some analysts think the newness of AI-enabled products will help.

“Consumer-facing AI items are potential longer-term sales and profit drivers for the company,” writes Brian Nagel, who follows Best Buy for Oppenheimer. “As the leading, full service, omnichannel enabled consumer electronics retailer in the U.S., Best Buy is uniquely well-positioned to educate and serve more mass market consumers, particularly in new product areas, such as AI.”

Still, he points out that stocks of AI-enabled consumer technologies “are very limited and still largely experimental.” And in the past, he notes that consumers have been slow to adopt new technologies as they wait to learn more about their uses and see if prices fall.

Best Buy “is executing ably from a strategic and operations perspective by investing in store renovations, leaning into core competencies with specialized labor and services touch points, and working to reduce operating costs,” writes Sean Dunlop, who follows the retailer for Morningstar. “But the company remains saddled by a challenging macro environment and broader consumer pressure.”

He does not expect the company to return to meaningful sales growth until 2026.