Dive Brief:

• Best Buy on Wednesday announced that Senior Vice President of Enterprise and Merchandise Finance Matt Bilunas will be promoted to chief financial officer effective Monday.

• He replaces Corie Barry, who became CEO in June as Hubert Joly moves on to serve as executive chairman of Best Buy's board, according to a company press release.

• Bilunas has been at the electronics retailer for 13 years, rising through its finance organization and holding both corporate and field roles in both domestic and international operations. As the SVP of Enterprise and Merchandise Finance since 2017, he's been responsible for planning processes, including strategic planning, annual budgeting, monthly forecasting and capital planning, the company said.

Dive Insight:

Best Buy is recruiting its top management from its own ranks, a show of confidence in how its management has navigated the Amazon-dominated retail era.

"At the heart of Best Buy's strategy is a view that it can use its assets to help enrich people's lives through technology — and this goes beyond selling them products," GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders said in May comments emailed to Retail Dive. "The company is well managed and run and has a clear vision around how it will connect with and sell to consumers over the next few years."

The big box retailer seemed threatened by the e-commerce giant not long ago, as Amazon moved to amplify that core merchandise offer to its own assortment. Sagging sales of mobile devices didn't help, and last year led Best Buy to shutter its 257-store fleet of standalone Best Buy Mobile locations. Earlier this year analysts fretted that declines at Apple would hit the retailer especially hard.

But the retailer has lifted its prospects considerably by expanding its services, revamping its stores and diversifying its operations. Last year Best Buy went well beyond electronics retail to acquire health and safety solutions company GreatCall for $800 million. That purchase began contributing to sales right away. In its most recent quarter, a tough one coming just after the holidays, Best Buy's U.S. revenue rose 0.8% year over year to $8.48 billion and comps rose 1.3%, as overall company revenue rose to $9.14 billion from $9.11 billion a year ago.

Online sales rose 14.5% on a comparable basis to $1.31 billion, and, as a percentage of total domestic revenue, e-commerce expanded by some 180 basis points to 15.4% from 13.6% last year. Even Amazon seems to appreciate Best Buy's importance to the segment, considering its high-profile move to sell its Fire TV Edition smart TVs at U.S. and Canadian Best Buy stores.