Report: Best Buy Shopped Most Often for Electronics

Columbus, Ohio Best Buy continues to be the store shopped most often by consumers looking for electronics, with an overall share of 29.8%, according to BIGresearch’s December 2008 Retail Ratings Report.

Up from 26.6% in December 2007, Best Buy’s growth in consumer preference for electronics shopping resulted in a Consumer Equity Index (CEI) of 112.21. 

Wal-Mart ranked second, with a share that was relatively flat year-over-year (17.0% in Dec. 2008 compared to 17.6% in Dec. 2007) with a CEI of 96.39.

Ranked third, Circuit City’s CEI of 78.44 showed a significant loss in consumer share for the struggling retailer.

CEI measures growth in share of customer preference year-over-year. An index of 100 is flat, while an index of 105 indicates 5% growth.

While Amazon’s consumer share is comparatively small overall (2.3% of adults 18+ shop there most often for electronics), they did experience significant growth over last year (from 1.4% in Dec. 2007). With a CEI of 168.29, Amazon grew more than any other retailer in the electronics category, and the online retailer also performed well among those with household incomes greater than $50,000.