Best Buy’s US sales figures in the first quarter went up by 0.6 percent, beating the market prediction of a decline of 0.4 percent. The rise in revenue comes as surprise to market watchers who have been painting a dire scenario for the five-decade old electronic retail chain in the competitive age of online marketing.
In recent years, Amazon has come to dominate the electronic retail segment, taking customers away from conventional brick-and-mortar retailers. In February 2015, when the iconic electronic retailer RadioShack filed a bankruptcy after years of financial decline and default on commercial rents, many analysts had predicted a similar fate for Best Buy as well.
Best Buy owes its positive first quarter earnings to Apple’s iPhone sales, and an upsurge in the demand for big electronics items like high-definition televisions.
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Despite inroads made by online retailers, Richard Schulze’s Best Buy continues to defy the trend and has restructured the business to retain its loyal customer base. The cornerstone of the retailer’s strategy has been the “price match guarantee, ” which allows customers to buy products in the retail store at the lowest prices available online.
According to Forbes, Best Buy’s shares have risen over 40 percent in the past year. Investors have benefited by cost-cutting measures undertaken by the company, as well as large divestures from foreign units.
