- Best Buy has started pulling most CDs from its stores as of July 1.
- The company said in a statement to Business Insider: "The way people buy and listen to music has dramatically changed and, as a result, we are reducing the amount of space devoted to CDs in our stores. However, we will still offer select CDs, vinyl and digital music options at all stores."
- Even though CD sales are dropping and physical format music is being pushed out by streaming services, many were upset with Best Buy's decision to pull most CDs from stores.
- I went to a Best Buy store myself to see why it may have made this decision, and what Best Buy is doing to compete with online retailers like Amazon.
Digital music streaming sites have been growing rapidly, all the while making CDs less and less relevant.
In February, Billboard reported that Best Buy had plans to pull most CDs from its stores as of July 1. Even though CD sales have been dropping rapidly for years, people were shocked and upset with Best Buy's decision to start pulling them from its shelves.
One reason for the ongoing decrease in sales is the rise in music streaming and digital media. With products like CDs becoming obsolete and other products being sold for lower prices online, Best Buy is fighting to stay relevant in an increasingly digital marketplace.
"The way people buy and listen to music has dramatically changed and, as a result, we are reducing the amount of space devoted to CDs in our stores. However, we will still offer select CDs, vinyl and digital music options at all stores," the company said in a statement to Business Insider.
The CDs that will still be sold in store will be "value CDs," according to Best Buy.
Carrying fewer CDs isn't the only thing Best Buy has done in recent years to keep its product offerings fresh and relevant. And while Amazon, a major competitor of Best Buy when it comes to electronics sales, continues to blow past analysts' expectations, Best Buy's efforts seem to have paid off for it as well. It reported 7.1% same-store sales growth in the first quarter of 2018 and plans to open a new store for the first time in seven years.
I recently went to a Best Buy store in New York City to see what's happening, and I saw how Best Buy is making major changes to compete with Amazon:
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The Best Buy I went to had three floors. Throughout the store, there were areas that mimicked Apple stores, Microsoft stores, and Samsung stores, with huge selections of products from each brand.
It also had two Amazon displays: one on the top floor by the mini-Apple store ...
... and another on the ground floor by home security.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider