US electricals giant Best Buy will launch an online shop in the UK within the next fortnight, rivaling the likes of Currys, Comet and Argos in the electricals market.
Best Buy, which opened its first UK store in May and now has five, will deliver across the UK, but not in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.
The electricals retailer will offer thousands of products online, including all those available in its stores, as well as additional lines.
Best Buy’s widely anticipated e-commerce launch will take place before the middle of November, but could come as soon as this week.
Best Buy first revealed its intention to enter the UK market with the £1.1bn acquisition of 50 per cent of Carphone Warehouse in May 2008.
Online sales of consumer electronics – excluding laptops, computers and mobile phones, as well as click and collect purchases – will exceed £1bn in the UK for the first time this year, according to forecasts by GfK Retail and Technology. This compares to actual total sales of £985m in 2009.
Electricals purchases on the internet made up 17.2 per cent of total sales in the UK market from 1 January to 30 September 2010, up from 15.7 per cent last year, according to the research firm.