U.S. CONSUMER ELECTRONIC RETAIL SALES UP 4.3% IN 2015; AMAZON LEADS GROWTH, PASSES WALMART AS #2 SELLER OF TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS
Best Buy Remains #1; TWICE Top 100 CE Retailers Report Reveals Industry Set a Record Of $136 Billion in Sales Last Year
NEW YORK (June 1, 2016) — TWICE recently released the latest edition of its Top 100 CE Retailers Report, which has provided the industry with a valuable snapshot of trends and results for the past 12 years. Complied by TWICE, along with leading retail market research firm The Stevenson Company, the Report reveals that, as a whole, retail sales of consumer electronics products were up 4.3 percent last year, with a total sales revenue of $136 billion — a new record.
The Top 100 CE Retailers Report also finds that CE sales results for most of this year’s contenders — based on 2015 calendar year performance — were either flat or down, and a few retailers had a low single-digit increase due to the sales of appliances.
As it has been in the past, Amazon was responsible for a large share of the growth, driving up CE sales by more than 28 percent last year, to more than $23 billion. These impressive sales allowed Amazon to overtake the venerable Walmart on the Top 100, assuming the No 2 position with Walmart dropping to the No. 3 spot. Best Buy held on to its No. 1 position.
There is also plenty of action going on beyond the Top 3. “Retail trends are now accelerating at digital speed,” observes TWICE senior editor Alan Wolf. “So while Amazon is consolidating share at the top of the rankings, newer players, like GameStop’s fleet of mobile and Mac stores, continue to percolate.”
Other revelations from the Top 100 CE Retailers Report include:
- Apple retained its No. 4 position with a respectable 4.3 percent increase last year.
- Taken together, the Top 4 controlled some $89 billion in sell-through last year, or 65 percent of total Top 100 revenue.
- Both Sears and MacMall suffered double-digit drops in revenue in 2015.
- NATM Buying Corp. member Electronic Express (No. 51), despite operating two less stores and facing fresh competition from No. 18 hhgregg, enjoyed a 10 percent sales spike, to $110 million, owing to third-party seller activity online and what it described as technological improvements” to increase sales and efficiencies.
“Despite a challenging overall retail atmosphere, total sales for the top 100 dealers rose more than 4 percent,” says TWICE editor-in-chief John Laposky. “That shows me consumers are still hungry for innovative devices that can improve their lives or entertain them in new ways. Innovative products will always find an audience.”
For further analysis of the TWICE Top 100 CE Retailers Report, click here.
For analysis based on a consumer market angle, click here.
For historical perspective on this year’s report: click here.
The complete TWICE Top 100 CE Retailers Report is available for purchase. Click here for more details.
TWICE is published by NewBay Media.