One of the world’s leading consumer electronics retailers Best Buy has moved to slash jobs at their retail stores as they move to expand their e commerce model.

Management claim the move is aimed at lowering the costs of running their instore operations that employs a high level of part-time staff.

Staff who sell computers and smartphones at Best Buy and are labelled as “consultants” were told their jobs would be eliminated, according to people familiar with the situation.

The move comes as the PC Industry witnesses a 40% slump and Smartphones a 29% slump in sales.

“We’re evolving our stores and the experiences we offer to better reflect the changes in customer shopping behaviour, as well as how we organise our teams to ensure we continue to provide our expertise, products and services in the best way possible,” said a spokeswoman for Best Buy.

Best Buy has made a string of store-level job cuts over the past two years as demand for electronics and appliances softened compared with earlier in the pandemic and as the company responds to shifting buying habits. Since 2021, the retailer has cut some workers who do jobs such as helping people purchase or plan home-entertainment layouts, stock shelves or work on the sales floor. Earlier Last year, Best Buy slashed hundreds of jobs across the US. They also eliminated hundreds of jobs at its Canadian locations.

The Wall Street Journal reported, “Over the past three years we have been optimizing our store staffing model to reflect the changes in customer shopping behaviour and to fuel investments in higher wages,” said Best Buy Chief Executive Corie Barry on a call to discuss earnings last month.

Part of the shift is driven by Best Buy’s current effort to plan store formats, fulfillment options and staffing by market, said the spokeswoman.

In recent quarters, sales fell sharply at Best Buy as inflation kicked in across the US.

For the current year, “macroeconomic headwinds will likely result in continued volatility, and we are preparing for another down year for the [consumer-electronics] industry,” said Ms. Barry on the call.

In other moves, Best Buy has also announced that they are joining the likes of HP, Apple, Office Depot, and other companies by offering a mail-in electronics recycling program.

The retailer is now offering prepaid shipping boxes for purchase that customers can fill with their old tech and gadgets and mail in to be recycled.

A small box will set you back $23, while a medium box will cost $30.

This new mail-in program sits comfortably between Best Buy’s in-store recycling option and their $200-per-trip Best Buy Haul Away program.