BIGresearch's March Retail Ratings: Best Buy and Walmart Top 2 for Electronics

COLUMBUS, OH--(Marketwire - April 1, 2009) - Best Buy continues to be the store shopped most often for over one-third (34.9%) of consumers for electronics, according to BIGresearch's (http://www.bigresearch.com) March 2009 Retail Ratings Report.

Up from 31% in March 2008, Best Buy's growth in consumer preference share for electronics resulted in a Consumer Equity Index™ (CEI)* of 112.69. #2 Walmart's share was up as well year-over-year (20.3% in Mar. 09 v. 17.6%) with a CEI of 115.16. Third place Target's CEI of 126.23 shows a relatively substantial growth in consumer share. (*CEI measures growth in share of customer preference year-over-year. An index of 100 is flat, while an index of 105 indicates 5% growth.)

The following retailers also experienced positive growth (as evidenced in their CEI rating), a possible by-product of Circuit City's demise: Amazon (171.28), Costco (127.94), Sam's Club (118.81) and Fry's (107.29).

Walmart bumped Best Buy out of the top position among consumers who report a household income of less than $50,000 this month. Walmart's share among this segment is 29.4%, compared to Best Buy's 28.7%. However, Best Buy is a clear winner among consumers with a household income greater than $50,000, with a share of 45.6%, compared to Walmart (12.4%) and Costco (3%).

"Best Buy and Walmart, with substantial gains in consumer preference share, seem likely to seize the opportunity to court Circuit City' former customers," said Pam Goodfellow, Senior Analyst at BIGresearch. "But with the void Circuit City is leaving in the electronics category, watch for retailers like Amazon or Sam's Club to possibly rise to the occasion in coming months."

BIGresearch's Retail Ratings Reports (RRR) are available monthly for 12 major merchandise categories. They are developed from BIGresearch's monthly Consumer Intentions & Actions (CIA) Survey of over 8,000 online interviews. For a sample of the March report for Electronics (Adults 18+ and those with household incomes less than $50,000), please click the following link: http://info.bigresearch.com/.

About BIGresearch

BIGresearch is a consumer intelligence firm providing analysis of behavior in areas of products and services, retail, financial services, automotive and media. BIGresearch conducts the monthly Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey (CIA) of 8,000+ respondents and the semi-annual Simultaneous Media Survey (SIMM) of 15,000+ respondents. More information is available at http://www.bigresearch.com

Contact Information: Contact: Chrissy Wissinger BIGresearch 450 West Wilson Bridge Road Suite 370 Worthington, Ohio 43085 (614) 846-0146