LAS VEGAS — Best Buy topped BIGresearch’s CE retail ratings for December.
The Columbus, Ohio-based research firm released its report this morning showing Best Buy continuing as the store shopped most often by consumers for electronics, with an overall share of 29.8 percent.
In the December 2008 Retail Ratings Report, Best Buy’s rating was up from 26.6 percent in December 2007. Best Buy’s growth in consumer preference for electronics shopping resulted in a Consumer Equity Index (CEI) of 112.21. (CEI measures growth in share of customer preference year-over-year. An index of 100 is flat, while an index of 105 indicates 5 percent growth.)
Wal-Mart’s No. 2 share remained relatively flat year over year (17.0 percent in Dec. 2008 vs. 17.6 percent in Dec. 2007) with a CEI of 96.39. Third-place Circuit City’s CEI of 78.44 shows a significant loss in consumer share for the struggling retailer.
While Amazon’s consumer share is comparatively small overall (2.3 percent of adults 18 and over shop there most often for electronics), they did experience significant growth over last year, from 1.4 percent 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.
“Amazon’s growth in all segments indicates that they could be a dark horse contender in the future of electronics retailing,” said Pam Goodfellow, senior analyst at BIGresearch.
BIGresearch’s Retail Ratings Reports (RRR) are available monthly for 12 major merchandise categories. They are developed from BIGresearch’s monthly Consumer Intentions & Actions (CIA) Survey of over 8,000 online interviews. In addition to income breaks, the RRR are segmented by age and gender.
