Retailers Have No Idea What Will Happen This Holiday Season

On Tuesday, consumer electronics retailer Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) reported its third-quarter results, and joined the list of big-box chains declining to provide any financial guidance for the holiday quarter. Target (NYSE: TGT) and Walmart (NYSE: WMT) had already done the same, citing unprecedented uncertainty.

Major retail chains that have spent the past few years building up their online capabilities in their attempts to fend off Amazon.com have found themselves in relatively enviable positions during the COVID-19 pandemic as consumers have accelerated their shift to e-commerce. Best Buy reported a whopping 174% rise in U.S. online sales in the third quarter; Target and Walmart posted 155% and 79% online growth, respectively.

Some retailers benefited from consumers' panic buying and stocking-up behavior early in the pandemic. Others, like Best Buy, got a boost as people snapped up computers and other electronic gear to support their ability to work and learn from home. The $2 trillion CARES Act passed by Congress in March provided some of the cash that fueled that spending.

Source Fool.com