Port Washington, NY (Vocus) April 13, 2010
With Circuit City out of the picture for a year now, the change in the consumer electronics retail landscape has been concentrated around two retailers, Best Buy and Walmart. According to leading market research company The NPD Groups new report New Look at Retail: Post Circuit City, Best Buy and Walmart captured two-thirds of Circuit Citys total dollar share during the March-December period in 2009 when Circuit City was no longer in business.
Best Buy extended its lead in U.S. retail in some of the industrys most important product segments. Best Buys dollar share in flat-panel TVs increased by more than five points as its position as the only national electronics retail chain allowed it to make especially strong gains in the premium priced over $ 1000 TV market. Walmart also gained presence in the TV category as a result of the Circuit City closing. Flat-panel TVs was Walmarts best performing category in overall share gains among the top categories after Circuit City left the market.
PCs were another bright spot for both retailers. Best Buy firmly established itself as the dominant 3rd party seller of computers in the U.S., with a large part of its gains coming through its Web site. Walmart saw its year-over-year share growth increase faster in notebooks than any other category.
Digital cameras was another strong area of growth for Best Buy which increased dollar share just as much in digital cameras as it did in notebook PCs. Walmart saw its dollar share climb above its previous levels during the crucial fourth quarter of 2009.
As its nearest competitor, both in store locations and in consumer perception, Best Buy was certain to be the big beneficiary from Circuit City’s closure, said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD. However, with the closures coming at the same time as an economic recession, tumbling ASPs in both PCs and TVs, and Walmart’s renewed focus on consumer technology as a growth opportunity, it is not surprising that Walmart also managed to grow its share during this period.
While Walmart has traditionally has its highest market share in the South, Best Buy was also able to make significant gains in that region as the retail landscape changed. Walmart increased its dollar share by two percentage points, while Best Buy gained four percentage points in the southern U.S.
We expect that in 2010 all retail channels will focus on their share growth opportunity in technology as new products, a better economy, and renewed consumer interest deliver an exciting sales outlook for the remainder of the year, stated Baker.
Methodology:
The data used in New Look at Retail: Post Circuit City was collected from NPDs Consumer Tracking Service. NPDs online panel consists of more than 1.8 million registered adults and NPD information is based on responses from nationally representative samples of panelists, and results are demographically balanced.
About The NPD Group, Inc.:
The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,800 manufacturers, retailers, and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national, and local market levels. NPD helps our clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising, and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, commercial technology, consumer technology, entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, foodservice, home, office supplies, software, sports, toys, and wireless. For more information, contact us or visit http://www.npd.com/ and http://www.npdgroupblog.com . Follow us on Twitter: @npdtech and @npdgroup.
For More Information:
Sarah Bogaty
+1 516 625 2357
sarah.bogaty(at)npd(dot)com
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