Best Buy has shut down its online Marketplace after a five year run as of Feb. 24, 2016. The electronics retailer plans to invest the Marketplace budget in other areas of strategic growth.
The Marketplace only brought in 1% of domestic revenue, according to Best Buy spokesman Jeff Haydock. It also created confusion among buyers who thought they were able to return the third-party merchandise, 70% of which overlapped with the retailer’s own inventory, in Best Buy stores.
Best Buy issued an email to 100 third-party sellers informing them about the sudden closure. “We believe we can continue to provide a positive customer experience on our site through other product sourcing methods,” said Mary Lou Kelley, President of Best Buy e-Commerce.
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The extremely low revenue Best Buy’s Marketplace generated was no match for Amazon’s third-party seller platform. The retail giant saw 40% growth on Cyber Monday in 2015 compared to the previous tear, and a growth rate of 50% year-over-year during the 2014 holiday season.
