Best Buy is the Next Big Retailer to Start a Marketplace. Here’s What We Know

Another online marketplace is coming soon, this time from a big electronics retailer.

Best Buy (BBY) is joining Amazon.com (AMZN), Walmart (WMT) and other retailers, joining a space estimated to be worth hundreds of billions of dollars in sales. launching a third-party US marketplace management earlier this month said is slated to open this summer. CEO Corie Barry on Best Buy’s latest earnings conference call shared more details about the plan, saying she believes it can attract shoppers and boost profits.

This is the company’s second try at an American marketplace; a first attempt was closed down nearly a decade ago, with media reporting issues with product overlap and minimal revenue. A Canadian marketplace, launched in 2016, has been seen as more successful.

“We believe that as the trusted leader in [consumer electronics] we have an opportunity to leverage our positioning and assets to build a differentiated digital marketplace platform, thereby bringing our customers access to a much more expansive assortment and new categories,” Barry said on the call, according to a transcript provided by AlphaSense.

Barry said the new marketplace will allow Best Buy to give customers more choices without growing its own inventory. Sellers will go through a vetting process, the company said.

Among other details discussed by Best Buy:

• The U.S. marketplace will offer an assortment of new products, while the current Canadian marketplace focuses more on refurbished items. The company said it’s seen demand in Canada for deeper product lineups, which the US version can offer, according to Barry. “Customers are searching our website and looking for a broader selection or looking for a broader quantity of products, and we just don’t have them there for them.”
• US customers will be able to return marketplace items to stores, executives said.
• Eventually, executives said, the company could offer fulfillment to marketplace sellers. “It is still early in the process and we are pleased with the strong interest from sellers and believe it indicates a promising launch,” Barry said.
• Best Buy is partnering with enterprise marketplace company Mirakl on its marketplace launch, which operates its Canadian marketplace.

Best Buy has not publicly shared a launch date. The company did not respond to Investopedia’s request for comment in time for publication.

Shares of Best Buy fell 10% this week and are off about 17% so far this year.