In the current technology products market, many consumers are concerned about customer support, data privacy and product safety. Advocating for our customers begins with understanding what they need and expect from us. We use our market research resources to ask the public to rate Best Buy on ethical behavior, protecting the environment and offering products that are responsibly made.

 

Industry Standards

We advocate for policies and programs that will improve our customers' ability to enjoy our products. For example, since 2007, Best Buy has been educating consumers on the nation's transition to digital television. In addition to providing DTV consumer information in our stores, web sites and via the phone, Best Buy partnered with a local non-profit in the Minneapolis area to conduct a door-to-door community outreach campaign to educate affected households about the digital transition and help prevent service disruption. We reached approximately 20,000 households through this campaign.

In addition, Best Buy has partnered with manufacturers and third parties to assist customers in making informed purchases of video games. Best Buy partnered with Microsoft and other leading companies on the Get Game Smart public service campaign, a first-of-its-kind approach to educating families by getting parents and their kids on the same page about responsibly using video games and other media.

 

Public Policy

Best Buy also is actively engaged in public policy on behalf of consumers and our business. Our Government Relations team works closely with Congress, state governors, state legislatures and state attorney generals through direct lobbying and memberships in a variety of trade organizations. For example, through our public policy work, we support strong federal standards for recycling and increasing federal research into recycling technologies, manufacturing innovations and consumer behavior. Supporting these efforts directly aligns with our aspiration to be environmentally and socially accountable for our brands and business operations worldwide.

 

Customer Privacy

Best Buy continues to lead by example in the area of customer privacy. We are leading the industry in establishing standards and policies for the appropriate treatment of private information. In addition to our own policies and standards, we conduct regular audits of our information technology vendors and partners. All of this is part of our commitment to focus on integrating best practices and technology solutions into our policies and processes.

Improving the ways we listen to and protect our customers is a priority for our company. We will continue to look for more and better ways to engage them, especially through new channels in the social media space. We will also be investing in new technology and processes to protect customer and employee data privacy. In addition, we will continue to work with our vendor, government and non-government organization (NGO) partners to find ways to develop solutions that meet customer's needs in an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible way.