Canada’s largest consumer electronics retailer has focused its marketing during the back-to-school shopping season on providing products to help students stay connected and mobile.
Angela Scardillo, vice-president of marketing at Burnaby-headquartered Best Buy Canada, said laptops, mobile phones and related computer and phone accessories and peripherals are key products the company has been selling to students as they return to school and entrepreneurs, who may have been on vacation, head back to work.
Recent surveys suggest consumers are either capping or reducing their spending this back-to-school season. A Scotiabank study released last week suggested Canadians will spend about 5.5% less this year on average than last year on back-to-school supplies. B.C. parents of elementary and high school kids plan to cut spending by more than 17%.
Scardillo was cautiously optimistic that this season the company will meet its sales expectations at both Best Buy and Future Shop stores across the country.
“We anticipated it wasn’t going to be a breakthrough year because of coming out of the recession, but we’re happy with where we are and where we’re expected to be."
She noted that the company’s mobile phone division, operating as Best Buy Mobile at Best Buy stores and Cellshop in Future Shop stores, has grown consistently throughout the year.
“There have been no peaks and valleys in that area at all, and with the iPhone 4 recently launched and the BlackBerry Torch coming, we’re seeing so much interest with smartphones.”
To tap the mobile market, Best Buy launched dedicated e-commerce iPhone apps for Best Buy and Future Shop in the past few weeks. In less than two weeks, more than 84,000 had downloaded the Future Shop app and more than 60,000 have downloaded the Best Buy app. “Mobile is definitely where everything is going.”