Amazon vs. Best Buy: a Tale of Two Retailers
A look at the companies’ growth rates tells the story well: While Amazon has grown sales by 41%, 40% and 28% the past three years, Best Buy’s fiscal year sales growth rates have been 2%, 0%, and 10%.
The surprising thing to me is that, at least through 2011, Best Buy still had more revenue than Amazon. Off-hand, I think everyone I know—including my grandmother—spends more at Amazon each year. I bought books from Amazon before ever setting foot in a Best Buy (because there was then no local one). Now I buy books, digital content, cloud services, hard drives and other electronics, sporting goods, and even soap, vanilla, and cookware from Amazon. The last time I shopped at Best Buy was a few years ago when I had a gift certificate. That’s when I noticed that they no longer have much of a music section but have a whole rack of iTunes gift cards in different styles.
