Buy.com Lining Up Electronics Suppliers

Speaking of diversifying, Aliso Viejo-based Buy.com Inc. last week opened an online consumer electronics store, the first product line in which the company will have to go to more than one distributor.

Buy.com, which has based its business on the notion of having the lowest prices, had previously dealt with only one distributor in each category in an effort to keep costs down. But unlike books, music and software, no single distributor offers a complete line of consumer electronics.

Buy.com, which last month filed for an initial public offering, had been using distributors with ties to the Ingram family of Nashville for all of its products except music.

For consumer electronics, Buy.com has again hooked up with Ingram Entertainment, which already supplies computer games, videos and close-out inventories obtained through liquidations and overstocks.

But Ingram Entertainment’s line is fairly limited, and Greg Hawkins, chief executive of Buy.com, said that the company plans to add several more sources.

“I still believe that having a single supplier is best because it gives you a better relationship and better leverage,” but the company also needs to have a complete product line, he said.