Best Buy CEO: Co Has Gained Most US Market-Share This Year
16 September 2009 - 2:07AM
Dow Jones News
Best Buy Co. (BBY) has gained more U.S. market share in its
business this year than anyone else as efforts to capture customers
who formerly shopped at Circuit City Stores Inc. (CCTYQ) have paid
off, Best Buy Chief Executive Brian Dunn said Tuesday.
"We have a track record of acquiring and retaining market share,
and we believe our ability to do that is greater than ever," Dunn
said during a conference call to discuss quarterly results.
Best Buy posted its 15th consecutive quarter of market-share
gains during the second quarter, when U.S. market share improved
nearly 3 percentage points from a year earlier and was better than
the first quarter's gain, Dunn said.
Best Buy's strongest sales were in areas "where customers need
help most" in connecting and integrating their gadgets - mobile
phones, televisions and digital cameras, he said.
Some of the retailer's initiatives this year, such as discounts
on appliances and offers of free installation for more expensive
TVs, are attracting customers even though they weigh on profits,
Dunn and other executives said. But they should pay off in the long
run, they said.
"It's a very competitive environment that we're playing in,"
Dunn said. "We're going to be there on price, and it is what our
people bring to it and our service offerings ... those things
together give me confidence about the economics for us."
- By Mary Ellen Lloyd, Dow Jones Newswires, 704-948-9145;
maryellen.lloyd@dowjones.com