Best Buy may be delaying its UK debut, but it got a lot of attention this week when it formally launched Best Buy Remix, a long-promised service that lets third-party web developers create new ways of displaying the retailer’s product catalogue online.
After six months of beta testing, Best Buy unveiled the site this week at the South by Southwest Interactive conference in Texas.
Best Buy Remix is an application programming interface (API) that gives third-party web developers access to Best Buy’s entire product catalogue database.
Private APIs have long been used inside retailers to link software with external systems, like suppliers’ databases or externally hosted third-party applications. Open APIs do the same on the public-facing web, opening some of a company’s databases to outside programmers so they can create innovative services.
Amazon has been making similar services available to its affiliates for years, but the idea seems to be catching on.
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