"Put them where the DVDs were"... Best Buy's upgrading its shelf space — 100 stores will dedicate entire sections to fitness gear by year-end. That fits with the chain's "store-within-a-store" strategy (picture your local Best Buy's Apple, Samsung, and Google sections), but this isn't free weights. It's tech-infused workout gear. Here are our highlights:
- Flywheel stationary bikes that stream live spin classes, just like Peloton (which is why Peloton is suing Flywheel).
- NordicTrack treadmills (yep, they still exist) with interactive coaching built in.
- Hydrow rowing machines featuring an immersive water scene on the screen — so you forget about land.
Home FitnessTech is the new iPhone... so Best Buy wants in. Wearable tech like Fitbits have become one of its fastest-growing categories. Meanwhile, home-bike Peloton is planning an IPO and furniture-turned-workout-buddy Mirror just hit a nearly $300M valuation. Best Buy wants to become the resource for that “growing intersection between fitness and technology.”
Best Buy is trying to be the Apple Store for Baby Boomers... It's using the Millennial-powered wellness trend to become extra relevant for an aging Boomer population. Its two latest acquisitions show that its focus on FitnessTech is embedded in HealthTech:
- 2018: Acquired GreatCall — maker of LifeAlert ("Help, I've fallen and I can't get up!") for $800M.
- Last month: Acquired Critical Signal Technologies, featuring telemedicine and remote vital sign monitoring for seniors.