Best Buy Sees Electric Future, Begins Selling Battery-Powered Bikes and Scooters
By John O'Dell July 7, 2009
Best Buy has started selling electric scooters and Segways at some of its western U.S. stores and on its Web site
as the largest U.S. electronics retailer looks to possibly augment flattening home-entertainment sales by entering the nascent electric-vehicle market.
Best Buy last month started testing sales of such items as Currie Technologies' E-Zip electric scooters and electric bicycles at about 20 stores in California, Oregon and Washington, according to company spokeswoman Kelly Groehler.
Best Buy sells the scooters (below) for as low as $299 while the e-bike (right) is priced at $899. The company is also selling Segway personal transporters and plans to add Brammo's Enertia electric motorcycle to its lineup- Best Buy is an investor in closely held Brammo.
Best Buy has also trained its Geek Squad employees to service the electric bikes and scooters, Groehler said.
The retailer is looking to use its technology-oriented reputation to gain sales from electric vehicles as sale home-entertainment components sales have flattened amid the U.S. economic downturn. Best Buy said last month that its fiscal first-quarter earnings dropped 15%.
While chiefly a play to boost earnings, the consumer electronics chain's decision to peddle e-bikes and scooters is a sign that conservative mainstream marketers are coming to believe that electric transportation has moved out of the early-adopter stage and into the mainstream, where volume sales are possible.
"This is one of the areas we're seeing interest from the consumer in terms of more cost-effective means of personal transportation," Groehler said.
She added that Best Buy had no intention of selling electric cars, though added that the company is "exploring every option."
The company offers standard shipping of e-scooters and e-bikes purchased from the Best Buy's Web site for about $100, with delivery estimated to take between four and 11 days.
U.S. electric-bike sales, while dwarfed by countries such as China, are expected to exceed 200,000 units this year, Time magazine reported last month.
Danny King, Contributor
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