The Apple Watch’s strong demand has encouraged Best Buy, which has been selling the device for a few weeks now, to increase distribution to all of its stores. Initially, the electronics chain planned to make the watch available in just 300 of its stores.
Best Buy revamping display to push Apple Watch sales
The Apple Watch will be carried in all of Best Buy’s 1,050 U.S. stores because “demand has been so strong,” Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly said. During the retailer’s earnings call yesterday, Joly informed investors and analysts that the Apple Watch will be in more than 900 of its big box stores, beginning Sept,. 4. By the end of September, the device will be available in all of its 1,050 big box stores and 30 Best Buy Mobile stores. Apple Care services and support will also be sold at several Best Buy stores this year.
Apart from carrying the gadget in all of its stores, the retail chain is also putting in extra effort to increase sales of the device by redesigning the display for Apple products. The retail chain already has the work done in 350 stores, and by the time the holiday season arrives, 170 more stores will be revamped.
“The stores-within-a-store will have new Apple fixtures and are larger with more display tables for phones, computers and tablets,” the CEO said.
Is the Apple Watch a hit?
It has been really tough for the tech industry to find indicators for the popularity of the watch as Apple has decided not to reveal sales data for it. There are speculations that the watch is either a mild success or an outright flop, but nothing can be said with surety.
In July, data from Slice suggested that after strong demand for the watch initially, sales plunged sharply, leaving many analysts concerned about the device’s future. However, Apple claims watch sales were higher than that of the iPhone and the iPad in their initial nine weeks in the market. The Apple Watch has got its grip over 88% of the smartwatch market according to 1010Data.
