Best Buy CEO talks up Holiday expectations

Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn is anticipating a strong Holiday performance this year, telling a media conference in New York he believes that "Consumers are back out spending again".

He outlined his belief yesterday that the US retailer would meet its full-year profit targets, and that the market for business is improving.

"We are hiring more people for seasonal business," he said, as reported by Marketwatch. "You are going to see us go deeper on inventory bets. I'm more optimistic today than I was in June."

He went on to state that the company would remain competitive on pricing and value, despite promotions and the sales of less profitable items eating into profits.

"We are not going to be beat by price," he said. "Value is going to be important across all price spectrums, [but] service will be an increasing part of what we do."

Meanwhile the company has also been focusing on customer engagement, both in-store and via social networks, with a Twitter feed that enables customers to ask staff questions and a Facebook account that boasts 1 million fans.

"We try to push more dollars toward engaging customers," said chief marketing officer Barry Judge.

Best Buy is likely to have gained some market share following the demise of Circuit City in January this year, but faces stronger competition from the likes of Wal-Mart.

The retailer's share price was down 0.9 per cent to USD 37.52 at the close of the markets yesterday.