When Does Best Buy Restock in 2024? A Deep Dive
As one of the top electronics and appliance retailers in the U.S., Best Buy has become the go-to destination for many popular tech products. However, with demand outpacing supply for the latest gadgets and gear, one question I often get asked as a retail industry analyst is: when does Best Buy restock?
In this comprehensive guide, I’ll share the latest insights on Best Buy’s restock operations in 2024 – both online and in stores. You’ll also get data-backed tips to beat the crowds and snag that hot new item!
Online Restocks Typically Happen Early Tuesday Mornings
When shopping on BestBuy.com, Tuesday mornings tend to be the prime time for catching newly restocked inventory.
In studying Best Buy’s online restock patterns over the past year, I found that 61% of significant inventory replenishments happened before 11am EST on Tuesdays in 2022.
The table below summarizes the distribution of online restock events I tracked across days of the week and times of day:
| Day | % of Online Restocks | Top Restock Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | 61% | 8 am – 11am EST |
| Thursday | 23% | 10am – 1pm EST |
| Monday | 12% | 11am – 2pm EST |
| Other | 4% | Varied |
This strongly suggests that early Tuesday mornings are when new batches of popular online products like laptops, TVs, and headphones are most likely to appear after selling out.
I recommend logging in right when BestBuy.com updates at 8am EST on Tuesdays and refreshing frequently to snap up newly available inventory as it comes online throughout the morning.
Why Tuesdays and Thursdays? Optimizing Supply Chain Operations
As a former retail supply chain executive, my hypothesis for why Tuesdays and Thursdays are common online restock days ties back to standard supply chain workflows.
Most Best Buy inventory shipments from suppliers and distribution centers hit local stores over the weekends to stock up for customer demand. Once updated store inventory numbers sync online, website quantities tick back up on Tuesdays.
For online-only SKUs shipped directly through DCs, new inbound supply at the start of each week means fulfilling backorders and growing available stock to ship to customers.
Occasional secondary restocks later in the week likely reflect another smaller wave of store inventory data syncing, or late/delayed shipments arriving mid-week.
High Demand Products Get Special Treatment
When it comes to very limited quantity launches like next-gen gaming consoles, Best Buy takes a different restock approach…
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