Best Buy Bets Big On Oculus Rift

Best Buy is pushing a big expansion of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset in a number of its stores to try and boost interest in the costly devices that can retail for about $599, according to Retail Dive.

The electronics retailer plans to roll the demos out in 500 U.S. stores in the coming weeks. Best Buy will also run demos of Sony’s PlayStation VR gaming system in 200 of its stores. The PlayStation VR system is expected to debut in October.

“The performance of virtual reality at Best Buy will be a very good indicator of how successful the VR movement will be,” Brad Thomas, a retail analyst for Keybanc Capital Markets, told Bloomberg. “We’re hopeful that virtual reality turns into a new traffic driver for Best Buy.”

The Oculus Rift already has a waiting list due, in equal part, to a manufacturing shortfall caused by glitches and product excitement from gamers, but Best Buy is banking on more than just gamers buying into and showing interest in the device and nascent virtual reality technology.

Oculus Rift, owned by Facebook, offers users “immersive, hyper-realistic graphics, sounds and sensations across gaming and entertainment scenarios,” according to Retail Dive.

Although Best Buy posted some surprisingly strong quarterly earnings this week, the electronics retailer still needs new products and revenue streams to combat losses as more and more retail transactions move online and to replace dwindling product areas, such as smartphones or personal computers, which have seen declines in recent years.