Best Buy Co. said sales surged in the holiday season, another quarter of strong growth after struggling early in the pandemic when the chain closed to in-store shoppers.
Despite the sales windfall, the electronics retailer has been laying off workers and cutting hours for some store workers in recent weeks.
The company is accelerating its plan to adapt to what executives think is a longer-term shift to online buying, including shrinking its store workforce and using more store space to fulfill online orders.
Comparable sales, those from stores and digital channels operating for at least 12 months, rose 12.6% in the three months ended Jan 30. The company reported a 23% sales increase in the previous quarter.
In the most recent quarter, online sales jumped almost 90% to $6.7 billion and made up 43% of total U.S. sales, nearly double compared with the same period last year.
