Best Buy is partnering with Uber for same-day delivery
Best Buy Co. is partnering with Uber Technologies to deliver electronics and small appliances through the Uber Eats platform.
More than 800 Best Buy stores nationwide are participating in the partnership, launched this month, to offer on-demand or scheduled delivery of headphones, chargers, laptops, gaming equipment, VR headsets and other electronics.
The partnership reflects a broader attempt by historically brick-and-mortar-based retailers like Best Buy to keep up with e-commerce giants like Amazon.
It is also one way Best Buy is trying to counteract the pain of tariffs, which have prompted the company to raise prices and threaten to weigh on sales.
“Those are the kind of things that it has to do to compete in this market,” said Matthew McCartney, an analyst and equity researcher at Wedbush, a leading wealth management, brokerage and advisory firm, referring to the partnership. He made a neutral recommendation for Best Buy stock, which is currently at $75.
Best Buy reported better-than-expected second-quarter results with a comparable sales growth of 1.6%, its highest in three years, driven mainly by back-to-school demand for computers.
But the stock has yet to return to its all-time highs during the pandemic when it hit a record of $137.22 per share. After “Liberation Day,” the day in April when President Trump announced tariffs, Best Buy stock showed its most significant loss, 39.98%. It has recovered some but is still far below the S&P 500 over the last twelve months.
Best Buy Stock compared to the S&P 500 in the last 12 months.
Investors’ sentiment in Best Buy is “kind of a mixed bag,” said McCartney. “Its stocks went up and down throughout the year, but generally still down.”
He said the company’s biggest advantage is that customers can pick up an order or have Uber pick it up and “it’ll be there the same day.” In contrast, Amazon customers, in many cases, have to wait for next-day delivery.
But it’s not clear how much demand there will be for such an option.
“I wouldn’t pick the Uber option,” said Felipe Collazos, 25, a Colombian musician who lives in New York and has purchased several things over the years. “I always go to their stores because I like to try their products and see them before I pay.”