Best Buy’s Q3 earnings results showed a 2.9% decline in comparable sales, marking the retailer’s 12th consecutive quarterly decline. The drop was driven by slower demand for appliances, home theatre systems, and gaming products, but growth in computing and tablets offset some of the losses.
Net sales fell to $9.45 billion from $9.76 billion a year ago, while online sales also dipped 1% year over year. Best Buy ranks No. 8 in the Top 1,000, with Digital Commerce 360 projecting Best Buy e-commerce sales in 2024 to decline 3.9% to $12.59 billion.
CEO Corie Barry cited factors such as macro uncertainty, customers waiting for deals and sales, and distraction during the run-up to the election as factors impacting performance. The retailer is now banking on early holiday deals and promotions to revive demand as shoppers continue to seek value amid economic headwinds.
Comparable sales dropped 2.9% overall, with a 2.8% decline in the U.S. Key domestic categories experienced steep declines: Appliances, Entertainment, and Consumer electronics.
Best Buy’s domestic online sales totalled $2.73 billion in Q3, a 1% decline from the quarter a year ago, but an improvement over the previous quarter’s 1.6% year-over-year drop. Online revenue accounted for 31.4% of total domestic revenue, up from 30.6% last year. In-store pickup now accounts for about 45% of domestic digital sales, with more than 90% of orders ready for customers within 30 minutes.
Holiday shopping brings optimism as Best Buy launched its Black Friday deals a week early, reporting a 5% increase in enterprise comparable sales for the first three weeks of November. The company also relaunched its Holiday Gift Ideas section on its website and introduced the AI-powered Gift Finder in its app.
Source: Digital Commerce 360
Source: Best Buy
Source: Yahoo Finance
