Blu-ray and DVD section at Best Buy in Costa Mesa, Calif., in October 2021.
November 22, 2022
Best Buy Nov. 22 reported domestic entertainment segment revenue of $490 million for the third quarter ended Oct. 29. That was down 4.6% from revenue of $549 million in the previous-year period.
The segment, which includes products such as DVD/Blu-ray Disc movies, video game hardware and software, books, music CDs and computer software, saw a 4.1% increase in the prior-year period. That quarter’s revenue growth was actually down from surge of 2020 when consumers restricted by stay-at-home mandates due to the pandemic stocked up on home entertainment purchases.
Total domestic revenue decreased 10.8% to $9.80 billion from $10.985 billion last year.
Revenue declines are not news to Best Buy, which has seen same-store declines all year and is projecting a same-store sales decline of approximately 10% in the current fourth quarter, which includes Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the rest of the winter holiday retail season.
From a merchandising perspective, the nation’s largest consumer electronics retail chain saw comparable sales declines across almost all categories, with the largest drivers being computing and home theater.
Notably, the declines included ecommerce with online revenue down 11.6% to $3.04 billion, with ecommerce accounting for 31% of total domestic revenue versus 31.3% last year.
“We have strategically and effectively managed our inventory flow based on a shopping pattern that we believe looks more similar to historical holiday periods, with customer shopping activity concentrated on Black Friday week, Cyber Monday and the two weeks leading up to Dec. 25,” CEO Corie Barry said in a statement.
