Best Buy, one of the most popular electronics retail brands, recently suffered through a difficult first quarter. Interim CEO Mike Mikan believes the chain will need to radically rethink its position in order to stay relevant to consumers worldwide, Internet Retailer reports.

Mikan recently told analysts the way the company will do this is by scaling down brick-and-mortar operations in favor of ecommerce. Best Buy looks to be going the Apple route, meaning it wants smaller stores that serve specific needs, while offering more robust selections online.

"The annual rate of growth of ecommerce transactions is far outstripping traditional retail sales,” Mikan told analysts on the company's first quarter earnings call. "Consumers have needs and preferences that are new and changing rapidly. Today, they need virtual products and services as much, if not more, than they need hardware."

Best Buy's traditional focus on customer service is no longer the unique draw it used to be, according to Mikan, which is why he is looking toward new business models.

A separate report from comScore highlights the rapid growth of ecommerce spending, which experienced double-digit growth during the first quarter of 2012.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, June 5th, 2012 at 9:50 am .