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With Gerry Harvey blaming all his problems on the internet, research has emerged that reveals of the internet dominated US market more than 80% of consumers still buy their consumer electronic and IT goods from a bricks and mortar store.Research group NPD said recently that roughly 80% of electronics were still bought in stores, and added big retail chains like Best Buy saw store visits climb last quarter, not decline.
Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn said recently that the notion that consumers were fleeing bricks and mortar stores for online is wrong.
“This misguided perspective is especially troubling for me, because it blatantly and recklessly ignores overwhelming evidence to the contrary,” Mr. Dunn wrote on his blog, Brian’s Whiteboard.
An Australian analyst attending CES said “there is a lot to be learn’t by Australian consumer electronic retailers from what is happening to Best Buy in the USA”.
A former Best Buy sales manager recently wrote online that he now uses the Internet to search for better deals on sites such as Amazon.com.
“I will buy it in your store…use it while I order another one for 75% less on Amazon and then return the new in the box one at your store,” the commenter wrote. “It’s shoppers like me that are multiplying because of research that is available on the Internet and that is why there is concern” about the company.
The WSJ said Best Buy shares have plunged 30% in the past 12 months as the world’s largest electronics retailer by revenue has struggled with slowing sales. Last quarter its sales rose 0.9% at stores and websites open at least 14 months, breaking a streak of five consecutive quarters of declining sales.
