On the heels of Future Shop's revealing of its own mobile shopping app, which we exclusively announced to the public last week, Best Buy Canada has confirmed that it, too, will have an iPhone app.

Remember: while Future Shop and Best Buy are owned by the same U.S. parent company, Best Buy Co., Inc., the retailers continue to operate separately in what has proven to be a very successful dual-brand strategy. Naturally, however, some resources are shared among the two companies. So it comes as no surprise that the Best Buy and Future Shop apps are designed identically.

Each boots up with a friendly salesperson's face greeting and welcoming you. Each aims to afford customers quick and easy access to various products, sorted by category, sub-category, price, brand, and even those that are currently on sale. Best Buy's Browse category is slightly different in that categories appear in a line-list versus Future Shop's arguably more attractive grid design. Best Buy also has fewer categories liste: just 11 versus Future's Shop 23. The latter retailer, of course, sells more product categories, including things like marine audio, musical instruments (in select stores), and home appliances.

Essentially all other features of the app are in the same, including a list of currently on sale items; the ability to share links with friends of sites like Facebook and Twitter (or through e-mail), to create a virtual wish list, to search for stores nearby, and to place orders for shipment. You can also read customer reviews and see product ratings, just as you would on the full site. One differentiating feature with Best Buy's app is the ability to access your Reward Zone account to see how many points you have. However, this simply opens up a browser Window and directs you to the full site. Future Shop's app also allows access to the retailer's Community Forum, which Best Buy's app does not.

We sat down with Best Buy Canada Ltd. President & CEO Mike Pratt when he was in Toronto earlier this year. During the interview, he made it clear that Best Buy and Future Shop operate with very different strategies, affording very different customer experiences.

"If a customer wants to be taken through all the products," he said, "typically that's a Future Shop customer. If someone wants to go in and browse without being bothered, but wants someone there if they have a couple of questions, that's more of a Best Buy customer. Customers naturally separate themselves into the environment they like."

Judging from the amount of detail in the Future Shop app versus Best Buy's, along with the degree of social interaction promoted through things like the Future Shop community forum, it's clear that the two apps are building from these respective strategies to effectively reach their customers.
For more detailed information about the Future Shop app, read our exclusive review.

Both apps are accessible on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

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