Dive Brief:
- Best Buy is partnering with livestream shopping platform TalkShopLive to host a three-part holiday shopping series, according to a Wednesday press release.
- Events will broadcast via Best Buy’s TalkShopLive channel and will be hosted by Best Buy’s virtual sales experts. Viewers will be offered limited-time deals during each show, can ask questions about products and can add items to their cart live by clicking a “buy” button in the video.
- The live shopping shows will highlight tech products from new Best Buy categories, including wellness and beauty, outdoor living, pet technology, e-transportation and non-tech products. Among the brands featured during the livestreams are Lego, Dyson and Meta, according to the announcement.
Dive Insight:
Best Buy is tapping into livestreaming to promote products ahead of Black Friday.
This year's partnership with TalkShopLive signals the retailer's deeper dive into livestream commerce. In December 2022, Best Buy teamed up with TalkShopLive to offer an in-store pickup option for holiday shoppers purchasing from the livestream commerce platform.
“This is the time of year we get to help shoppers create magical moments and stand out with the perfect gift, and we’re excited to bring that to life in another fun way this holiday with live shopping,” Jennie Weber, chief marketing officer at Best Buy, said in a statement. “As more shoppers seek out live online shopping experiences, we’re excited to be there for them this season in ways no one else can be — with great deals, the best assortment of technology and our unmatched expertise.”
Also to promote the season, at the end of October Best Buy began offering Black Friday discounts on products from brands like Toshiba, KitchenAid, Sony, Samsung, HP, Windows and Apple.
But as Best Buy tries to entice shoppers with engaging livestreams and deals, demand for electronics appears to be slumping. Data from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau released last month found that electronics sales dipped by 2.5% in September compared to 2022.
“We continue to believe that calendar 2023 will be the bottom for the decline in tech demand,” CEO Corie Barry told analysts in May. “This year we are focused on delivering great customer experiences while running the business efficiently and strategically setting ourselves up to flourish when the industry returns to growth.”
In August, Best Buy reported a 7.2% revenue drop year over year in its second quarter. Its net earnings fell 10.5% to $274 million, while comps were down 6.2%.
