BBYOpen

This post, part of a guest blog series on platform success strategies, originally appeared on Programmableweb.com

As you're packing for this week's Shop.org Annual Summit, it's useful to keep in mind how digitizing the retail experience for your business's consumers via APIs can really make your business stand out as an innovative and more influential player in the retail space. To help keep things in perspective before the show, we'll use Best Buy as a case-in-point example for how a traditionally brick-and-mortar store transformed its business model into one that has proven great success in this post-website era.

THE PROBLEM

Friday we reflected on multichannel expansion as a key business driver for retailers at eTail Boston this month, by comparing it to the technology recommendations of the analyst community. One fantastic point that Brian Walker touches on in his talk is that businesses in general cannot keep up with all of the emerging digital touch points in today’s market. Retailers are looking for strategies to reach customers across the rapidly growing array of channels most consumers touch daily: mobile, social, word of mouth, as well as traditional Web and traditional channels.