Best Buy saw strong demand for the Apple Watch and plans to expand the availability of the smartwatch in all 1,050 of its stores nationwide.
As the wearable market continues to gain momentum, it seems that Apple's very first smartwatch is doing quite well, at least at Best Buy.
The retail chain only started offering the Apple Watch a few weeks ago, initially planning to make the wearable available in 300 of its U.S. stores by the holiday season.
Due to strong demand, however, Best Buy now wants to boost the availability of the Apple Watch from 300 Best Buy stores as initially planned to all 1,050 stores by the end of September.
With Apple's help, Best Buy reported a notable increase of 3.8 percent in domestic comparable sales for the second quarter, exceeding Wall Street expectations. At the same time, the retail chain also posted a better-than-expected profit.
"Demand for Apple Watch has been so strong in the stores and online," Hubert Joly, the CEO of Best Buy, said in a conference call, as cited by Fortune.
While Apple has yet to reveal any specific sales numbers for its smartwatch, Best Buy's comments and plans to sell the Apple Watch in all of its 1,050 U.S. stores suggest that the wearable is a success.
"As we look forward, while we are cognizant of the recent financial market turbulence, we believe the combination of an opportunity-rich environment and the strength of our competitive advantages leads us to have a positive outlook about our future prospects, starting with the important back-to-school third quarter," Best Buy further notes in its report for second quarter results.
In addition to expanding the availability of the Apple Watch, Best Buy wants to further strengthen its relationship with Cupertino by updating its Apple shop-in-shops at more than 700 stores. The work is reportedly complete at 350 stores already and by the holiday season another 170 stores will be ready with new fixtures and display tables for tablets, smartphones and computers.
Moreover, Joly also revealed that this quarter Best Buy will start selling AppleCare product service and support. At the same time, the retailer will also begin a trial to provide authorized service at 50 stores.
