Amazon didn’t kill Best Buy. Best Buy is killing Best Buy. I went in looking for an audio recorder. Shelves half empty. No recorder in sight. Ended up ordering it on Amazon. Amazon’s pain point? Too many choices. You have to sift through hundreds of options before finding the right one. Best Buy’s pain point? Not enough choices. Empty shelves, Stanley Cups instead of electronics, and a checkout line that feels like 2005. Best Buy actually has the one advantage Amazon doesn’t—the ability to touch, test, and walk out with the product today. That’s gold. And they’re squandering it. Here’s what Best Buy should do instead: • Curate, don’t clutter. Fewer SKUs, but only the best-in-class tech displayed in a way that makes you want to buy it on the spot. • Bolt on services Amazon can’t touch. Immediate setup, VIP tech memberships, in-store demos that create real buying moments. • Make checkout frictionless. No more lines. Scan-and-go, mobile checkout, walk out in 90 seconds. • Compete on urgency. Order online, pick up in 15 minutes. Trade-in and trade-up offers that happen instantly. • Fix the upsell. Stop pushing warranties nobody wants. Instead, upsell what adds real value: instant installs, cloud migration, extended service, or bundled accessories that make the product better on day one. • Cut the irrelevant crap. No more Stanley Cups. No toys that don’t fit. Stay ruthlessly focused on the core story: “We are the fastest, easiest, and most reliable way to get your hands on the exact tech you need, right now.” Best Buy doesn’t need to beat Amazon at Amazon’s game. They need to win at the one game Amazon can’t play. What do you think—are retailers failing because of Amazon, or because they’ve forgotten what customers actually want?