At PriceSpider, we love a good set of ecommerce data. In fact, we nerd out on it from time to time. And in this post, we’re going to do exactly that. We’re diving deep into our numbers vault and taking a look at the top 10 retailers for consumer electronics brands. So if your brand sells electronics (or if you’re like us and just love a good set of data), this post is for you.
Why exactly did we put together this list? Because every online retailer that carries your product category represents an opportunity to expand your reach, increase market share, and introduce your products to new members of your target demographics. But these opportunities aren’t equal. In some of these partnerships, your brand brings more to the table than the retailer.
You want to invest in the retailer relationships that are most valuable to your business. And that means knowing which retailers have the largest relevant customer base and strongest relevant branding. Which retailers will have the most significant impact on your brand? Which ones are most popular in your product category?
So, to help you evaluate your brand’s opportunities, we used our internal traffic data from full year 2022 to assemble a list of the most popular online stores for consumer electronics brands.
Here’s how we did it. More than 2,000 leading brands use PriceSpider’s Where to Buy to track the online sales and web traffic they send to their retail partners. They can manually select their preferred retailers or use conversion rates, click-through rates, total sales, ratings, and other criteria to automatically populate a list, then display this list to customers who click “buy” on their websites or in emails, social media posts, ads, and other content.
Where to Buy tracks every click on these buttons (as well as transactions that occur as a result), allowing us to see which online retailers receive the most traffic from brands. We filtered this data by product category to isolate consumer electronics brands, then removed any brand-specific stores from the list. (Any brand that doesn’t represent an opportunity to other consumer electronics brands.)
Every click represents an intentional choice to browse a specific product page on a specific retail site. Collectively, online retailers receive millions of clicks per year through Where to Buy.
Here are the 10 online stores that received the most clicks from consumer electronics brands through Where to Buy in 2022.
As you can imagine, which retailers show up on this list depends on what kinds of products we include in “consumer electronics.” At PriceSpider, this category encompasses everything from computers to cameras, sound systems, phones, gaming consoles, and even appliances. The percentage of raw clicks an online store receives gives us insight into two things:
- Which online retailers consumers prefer to use when shopping for consumer electronics.
- Which online retailers consumer electronics brands prioritize.
This is because Where to Buy enables consumers to see a range of buying options and then select the retailer they prefer, and they’re most likely to click the retailers toward the top of the list they see in Where to Buy. Consumers prefer specific retailers for a range of reasons, including prices, perks, ratings, fulfillment methods, experience, and convenience.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these online stores and examine their role in this major product category.
1. Target.com (3.68 million clicks)
Target has a solid position in most ecommerce product categories. But they’ve primarily built their reputation around quality. They’re in the process of introducing their own third-party marketplace, Target Plus, which will also have a curated selection of brands.
In addition to having a large online customer base, Target has a massive brick-and-mortar footprint in the US. Nearly 2,000 physical stores give them constant exposure in all 50 states, and 75% of the US population lives within 10 miles of a Target store—making alternative fulfillment methods like BOPIS accessible to most online shoppers. So it makes sense that they’d be top-of-mind for many consumers browsing for electronics.
Want to be more competitive on Target.com? Check out our free ebook, How Brands Win on Target.com.
2. BestBuy.com (1.62 million clicks)
For more than 50 years, Best Buy has been building its reputation as a major consumer electronics store, selling music in various formats, sound systems, TVs, consoles, computers, appliances, fitness machines, and more. Nearly 30 years ago, Best Buy also began providing branded expert support and installation services with Geek Squad, helping to solidify their reputation as electronics experts consumers can trust.
In most product categories (and overall sales), Amazon, Walmart, and Target are by far the dominant online retailers. But when it comes to buying electronics, consumers click more on BestBuy.com than “the big three.”
One possible reason for this preference: Best Buy is more selective about the brands in their catalog, so consumer electronics brands know they’re primarily competing against other high-quality brands. Not to mention, having your product available at BestBuy.com is a stamp of approval in itself. Some other major retailers have broader catalogs, and their algorithms may emphasize lower-priced alternatives on their product pages, making brands more wary of sending customers there. That, coupled with Best Buy’s long-standing reputation for quality and widespread recognition, makes them highly clickable when consumers have the choice.
3. Amazon.com (1.14 million clicks)
In pretty much any product category, it’s no surprise to see Amazon.com toward the top of a list of online retailers. It’s basically “the everything store,” and everyone uses it. By leveraging third-party sellers to expand their product offering and availability, Amazon has built the largest online catalog of any retailer. Whatever consumers are shopping for, Amazon ensures they can compare a range of products that meet their criteria.
Amazon also gives brands access to a massive customer base. With more than 300 million active accounts and over 100 million Amazon Prime subscribers, it’s hard to be competitive if your products aren’t available on Amazon.com. Not to mention, millions of Amazon customers use Amazon credit cards to earn points toward future Amazon purchases. For these consumers, product searches often start and end with Amazon.
While brands might prefer to prioritize partners that give better margins or won’t highlight competitors, doing so costs them sales. Many customers with a strong preference for Amazon won’t buy from another store. At best, they’ll take their search to Amazon, where they’ll encounter ads and organic results for competitors. Putting Amazon high on your list in Where to Buy cuts past this process and sends your customers straight to your product page on Amazon.
Want to be more competitive on Amazon.com? Check out our free ebook, How Brands Win on Amazon.
4. Walmart.com (823,000 clicks)
As the largest retailer in the world, Walmart will always be a contender in most product categories. While Target has nearly 2,000 stores covering all 50 states, Walmart has five times as many locations. And with more than 1.5 million employees in the US, about 1 in every 220 US citizens is a Walmart employee. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t heard of Walmart.
Walmart has never been shy about communicating their brand’s focus on value. For decades, their slogan included the words “low prices,” and today’s iteration is “save money.” Walmart customers trust them to provide the lowest possible prices through name brands or private labels like Great Value.
When ecommerce brands use Where to Buy to highlight a selection of retailers, they have the option to display real-time information from the corresponding product pages, including pricing. In these instances, Walmart will often look like the best place for consumers to get the products they want at the best possible prices.
Want to be more competitive on Walmart.com? Check out our free ebook, How to Win on Walmart.com.
5. OfficeDepot.com (580,000 clicks)
Office Depot may not be the first store you associate with consumer electronics, but their electronics catalog includes everything from the usual office equipment like computers and printers to sound systems, TVs, cameras, wearables, drones, and phone accessories. Like Target, Office Depot has plenty of physical locations (more than 1,400) to strengthen their brand awareness. They also have plenty of exclusive brands with strong corporate appeal, making them well-suited to accommodate the surge of US workers who have transformed their homes into fully-functional offices.
Brands and consumers alike are probably giving preference to Office Depot for its accessibility, general trustworthiness, and reputation as a source of work-related electronics.
6. GameStop.com (300,000 clicks)
GameStop serves a very specific segment of consumer electronics brands and consumers. If it’s related to video games, you can probably find it at GameStop.com. This niche retailer has about 4,500 stores worldwide, including more than 3,000 in the US.
But while they’ve been around for nearly 40 years, the business has had some significant ups and downs. A few years ago, changes to the industry led some to speculate that GameStop was on its last leg. However, in 2020, GameStop rode major waves of free press and huge investments when it became a “meme stock,” breathing new life into this specialized business.
For consumer electronics brands that sell video games or gaming accessories, GameStop.com is an obvious choice to include in Where to Buy lists. And for the more than 50 million gamers with a PowerUp Rewards membership, GameStop will be the top choice. In fact, Newsweek recognized PowerUp Rewards as one of “America’s Best Loyalty Programs” of 2022.
7. Staples.com (253,000 clicks)
Like Office Depot, Staples is a go-to source for office essentials, which includes computers, printers, software, cameras, and all sorts of accessories. Their brand is built around supporting businesses, and they’ve worked with 50% of Fortune 500 companies. (They even have a separate site for enterprise customers.)
Over the last few years, employers around the world have sought the best ways to equip their remote employees with everything they need to work from home, and retailers like Staples have been trusted corporate partners.
Brands may be more likely to prioritize Staples.com when their products are commonly purchased by office administrators or have a strong use case for the office. Similarly, consumers are (probably) more likely to choose Staples.com when looking for work-related equipment.
8. HomeDepot.com (213,000 clicks)
It might seem strange to see a hardware store on a list of top online retailers for consumer electronics. But there’s an increasing overlap between these two industries: smart home devices. As more ordinary household items become digital, consumer electronics will continue reaching further into the catalogs of stores that have traditionally catered to other industries.
Depending on the electronic product someone is viewing, Home Depot may be the most relevant store listed on a brand’s Where to Buy—especially if the purchase is related to a home renovation or project where the consumer may have a list of other items they need from a hardware store. In 2020, Home Depot was also a leader in facilitating alternative fulfillment methods, so consumers have grown used to making online Home Depot purchases via click and collect.
9. SamsClub.com (169,000 clicks)
Sam’s Club is the US’s second-largest warehouse club. Started 40 years ago by the founder of Walmart, it’s grown to 600 locations and boasts 47 million US members. Those aren’t the most impressive numbers on this list, but Sam’s Club members enjoy wholesale prices, cash rewards programs, free shipping, and other benefits. And for consumers who pay for a Sam’s Club membership every year, this is a retailer they’ll click when it shows up on a brand’s Where to Buy.
10. BHPhotoVideo.com (159,000 clicks)
For about 50 years, B&H has been a major supplier of consumer electronics. While they only have one (massive) physical location, they ship products all over the world. From their inception, B&H has emphasized trust and service. Despite being a large retailer, they’ve managed to maintain their “mom-and-pop shop” feel by leveraging the expertise and experience of their staff instead of relying on algorithms.
Brands that believe in their products point customers to B&H knowing it will speak to the quality and credibility of their brand. And customers who are familiar with B&H know they can expect a good experience and expert support—which can be especially valuable in this category.
There’s another reason brands love these stores
As you browsed our list, you may have noticed some well-known retailers didn’t show up. It’s not that their online stores aren’t generating consumer electronics sales—they most certainly are. But brands can’t track those sales. And as a result, they often don’t include these retailers in their Where to Buy widgets. In fact, if a retailer doesn’t let brands track transactions they drive to the retailer’s site, it won’t show up when they filter sellers by conversion rate or transactions.
Many major retailers share data directly with PriceSpider. When a consumer clicks a link to one of these retailers in Where to Buy, the brand gains visibility into everything that happens after the click—whether they purchased or not, what else they bought, and the total value of their cart. This data gives brands conversion rates and transaction figures for each retailer, helps them optimize their marketing strategies, and in some cases, leads to new product bundles and even new products.
It’s not so much that brands are intentionally filtering out these retailers that don’t share data—they’re just prioritizing the ones that do because those retailers are helping them learn more about the customer experience and ultimately produce more effective ecommerce marketing.
Streamline the path to purchase with Where to Buy
Every consumer has their own shopping preferences based on their experiences. Maybe they already make weekly trips to Target. Or they have a list of projects they need to prepare for at Home Depot. Perhaps an employer gave them a gift card to Office Depot. Or they really just want Amazon Prime’s free two-day shipping and to get their 5% back with their Amazon card.
You don’t know which retailer a given consumer will prefer, so why not display a range of buying options when they visit your website or your latest ad campaign catches their attention? More than 2,000 of the world’s leading brands use Where to Buy to do just that, giving their visitors the freedom to choose where and how they want to buy.
Want to see how it works?
