Best Buy 2015 Annual Report Download - page 14

Table of Contents
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Some of our competitors have low cost operating structures and seek to compete for sales primarily on price. In addition, in the
U.S., online-only operators are exempt from collecting sales taxes in certain states. We believe this advantage will continue to
be eroded as sales tax rules are re-evaluated at both the state and federal levels. We carefully monitor pricing offered by other
retailers, and maintaining price competitiveness is one of our ongoing priorities. In addition, we have a price-matching policy
in the U.S. that allows customers to request that we match a price offered by certain retail store and online operators. In order to
allow this, we are focused on maintaining efficient operations and leveraging the economies of scale available to us through our
global vendor partnerships.
In addition to price, we believe our ability to deliver a high quality customer experience offers us a key competitive advantage.
We believe our dedicated and knowledgeable people, integrated online and store channels, broad product assortment, range of
focused service and support offerings, distinct store formats, brand marketing strategies and supply chain are important ways in
which we maintain this advantage.
Environmental Matters
Best Buy is committed to creating a thriving business while lessening our environmental impact. In the U.S., consumers recycle
more electronics through Best Buy than any other retailer. In fiscal 2015, we collected more than 126 million pounds of
consumer electronics and 110 million pounds of appliances, helping us meet our goal of collecting one billion pounds (set in
2009). The recycling program remains an important offering in supporting our customers, communities and the environment.
We offer a large selection of energy-efficient products, which help our customers save money by using less energy. Best Buy’s
U.S. customers purchased more than 25 million ENERGY STAR® certified products in fiscal 2015 and realized utility bill
savings of more than $71 million. These energy savings equate to over 900 million pounds of CO2 avoidance, or the equivalent
of removing more than 86,000 cars from U.S. roads.
We are continuously working to make our locations more sustainable and to increase efficiency within our supply chain. In
calendar 2010, we set a goal of reducing our absolute carbon emissions in North America by 20% by the year 2020 (over a
2009 baseline).To date, these energy efficiency measures reduced more than 200,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions and helped
us to exceed our goal of 20%.
We are not aware of any federal, state or local provisions that have been enacted or adopted regulating the discharge of
materials into the environment, or otherwise relating to the protection of the environment, that have materially affected, or are
reasonably expected to materially affect, our net earnings or competitive position, or have resulted, or are reasonably expected
to result in, material capital expenditures. See Item 1A, Risk Factors, for additional discussion.
Number of Employees
At the end of fiscal 2015, we employed approximately 125,000 full-time, part-time and seasonal employees in the U.S.,
Canada, Mexico and our sourcing office in China. We consider our employee relations to be good. We offer our employees a
wide array of company-paid benefits that vary within our company due to customary local practices and statutory requirements,
which we believe are competitive in the aggregate relative to others in our industry.
Available Information
We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and its rules and
regulations. The Exchange Act requires us to file reports, proxy statements and other information with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission ("SEC"). We make available, free of charge on our website, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K,
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to these reports filed or furnished pursuant to
Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file these documents with,
or furnish them to, the SEC. These documents are posted on our website at www.investors.bestbuy.com. In addition, the public
may read and copy any materials we file with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington,
DC 20549. The public may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-
SEC-0330. The SEC also maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information
regarding issuers, such as the Company, that file electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov.
We also make available, free of charge on our website, our Amended and Restated By-laws, the Corporate Governance
Principles of our Board of Directors ("Board") and our Code of Business Ethics (including any amendment to, or waiver from,
a provision of our Code of Business Ethics) adopted by our Board, as well as the charters of all of our Board's committees:
Audit Committee; Compensation and Human Resources Committee; Finance and Investment Policy Committee; and