The competition in price played a major role in the declining 2013 holiday sales results at Best Buy, according to a statement released by the electronics retailer.
In the nine week holiday period that ended on Jan. 4, Best Buy reported $11.45 million in revenue, down slightly from the 2012 holiday season of $11.75 million.
“When we entered the holiday season, we said that price competitiveness was table stakes and an intensely promotional holiday season is what unfolded,” said Hubert Joly, Best Buy president and CEO, said in the statement.
Other factors that negatively impacted the holiday numbers, Joly said, included “the aggressive promotional activity” in the retail industry during the holiday period, supply constraints for key products; significant store traffic decline between “Power Week” and Christmas; and the “disappointing” mobile market.
In order to see better results for holiday 2014, Joly said Best Buy was planning to grow its ecommerce channel, enhance marketing approaches to include personalization, customer segment targeting, and to “reinvigorate and grow” its Geek Squad services.
In an separate statement, Best Buy founder and chairman Richard Schulze said of the holiday results, “The message behind today’s announcement is very clear to me. Best Buy is on this journey and in this business to win, acquire, and retain new and existing customers. I have complete faith in the long-term strategy and I am confident that management is taking the steps required to win and position the company for a successful future.”
Erin Lynch is the senior content producer at Multichannel Merchant. Erin can be reached (203) 899-8461 or connect with her socially on Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn.