Best Buy Launches Third-Party Marketplace Like Walmart

Best Buy is revealing a new third-party marketplace that opens the doors to smaller vendors, in an effort to boost variety and sales.

Best Buy launched the marketplace on Tuesday through its website and app, highlighting that the move more than doubles the number of items available in the “largest expansion ever” of Best Buy’s product offerings, according to a press release.

The company’s online marketplace introduces hundreds of new products to Best Buy across categories such as seasonal decor, office and home supplies, and movies and music. For example, it includes pots and pans from brands like Martha Stewart and Crock-Pot, and adds musical instruments like guitars and drums for the first time. Best Buy also plans to add licensed sports merchandise through the marketplace “soon.”

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“Our customers have always looked to us to bring excitement and inspiration in ways only technology can,” Best Buy’s Chief Marketplace and eCommerce Officer, Frank Bedo, stated in a press release. “With marketplace, we’re able to give them not only more of the latest technology, but a massive new collection of products outside of the tech space, so we can truly offer the full experience they need.”

The marketplace is similar to Amazon and Walmart in that it depends on third-party sellers to sell products and takes a portion of the sale as a commission. Customers can return products bought through the marketplace directly to a Best Buy store or ship them back to the seller.

Best Buy’s Chief Customer, Product, and Fulfillment Officer, Jason Bonfig, told CNBC that the new marketplace will fill in gaps in the retailer’s offerings, such as cases for older phones and batteries for older cameras. Smaller sellers with niche products can find a home in the new Best Buy marketplace, he said.

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Best Buy’s new move arrives after the company posted declining revenue. Best Buy reported its first-quarter earnings in May, noting that domestic revenue for the quarter was $8.13 billion, a 0.9% decline from the previous year.

Best Buy’s market value was $15.69 billion at the time of writing, with its stock down over 14% year-to-date.

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