Best Buy to Enter UK Online Market
Best Buy, the US based consumer electronics retailer, is in the process of developing a transaction based website for the UK market. Although an official release date has not yet been set, there is widespread speculation in the business press that the launch will take place during the run up to the holiday season, as this would allow the company to make up development costs from the most lucrative time of year for high street retailers.
One research consultant has suggested Best Buy executives are too clever to miss the benefits of webhosting an online shopping platform in the weeks and months leading up to Christmas, and are pushing the development of the new site accordingly.
Since its inception in 1983, Best Buy has grown to more than 1500 outlets in Canada, Mexico, China, Turkey and the United States. With yearly revenues of nearly US $50 billion and a 19 percent share in the consumer electronics market, muscling established competitors out of existing British online custom is something of a new role for the company. One executive said of expansion into the UK market, ""Best Buy will need to stand out in order to do well; it needs to do something unique and different that's over and above what other players are offering"".
The first inklings of a UK online presence for the brand came hard on the heels of their opening an enormous electronics megastore in South London. This was the fifth physical location in Britain, and an increasing presence has evidently reassured executives of success in domain hosting their products online.
While European revenues currently account for only one-tenth of what the company takes in the United States, an aggressive expansion plan set to take place over the next eighteen months should see a more geographically equitable division of sales for the company. Current figures for the whole of Europe trail even Canada, and Best Buy executives feel there is potential for EU revenue to rival that which is currently enjoyed by the company in the United States and Canada.
Karen Streatham is a busy stay-at-home mum with two bright young boys, ages 3 and 4. When she isn't running after the men in her family, she likes sharing tips on cooking, gardening, parenting and being a tech-savvy mum from Suffolk. Also, posting pictures and sharing stories about her wonderful children.
