The end of an era at Best Buy

It’s the end of an era at Best Buy stores across the US as the company will stop selling DVDs and Blu-rays at its locations starting in 2024.

This decision reflects not only a tangible change in consumer habits, but it has also occurred at an alarming speed.

In fact, DVD sales reached their record high less than two decades ago, with sales in the United States reaching $16.3 billion ($22 billion CAD) in 2005. However, the numbers soon declined, reaching… Just over $2 billion in 2018.

Blu-ray discs have suffered a similar, though less severe, fate, with record sales in 2013 of $2.37 billion ($3.20 billion CAD), followed by a decline to $1.8 billion ($2.43 billion CAD) in 2018.

The latest data indicates that combined sales of Blu-ray Discs and DVDs reached $1.5 billion ($2 billion CAD) in 2022, evidence that consumers are increasingly abandoning these products.

“These products have also taken up space in stores,” said Philippe Richard Bertrand, co-founder of Amplio Strategies. “I think Best Buy just made a real estate move. They’re going to put in other types of devices, maybe electronics, that sell better to replace those long lines of DVDs.”

This size change only affects branches located in the United States at this time. However, it cannot be ruled out that a similar scenario will emerge in Canada, which could happen in the coming years.

In response to a question from TVA Nouvelles, many Quebecers confirm that customs have changed.

Watch their responses in the video at the beginning of the article.