TigerDirect Tops $1 Million in Total Bitcoin Sales

Florida-based online high-tech retailer TigerDirect passed $1m in total bitcoin sales on 13th March, less than two months after it began accepting the digital currency.

TigerDirect began taking bitcoin on 23rd January, partnering with Georgia-based merchant processor BitPay, and has been active at incentivizing its budding bitcoin customer base.

Steven Leeds, director of marketing at Tiger Direct, told CoinDesk that his company has been very pleased with its decision so far.

Said Leeds:

"The overwhelming response from our customers validates our decision."

In addition to the sales increase, Leeds indicates that customers have benefitted from the arrangement as well, saving money on transaction fees when compared to other forms of online payment such as credit cards.

TigerDirect joins Overstock as the second merchant to pass the $1m bitcoin sales mark. Overstock announced that it reached the milestone on 4th March.

Winning combination

So far, TigerDirect's results indicate that bitcoin has resonated with its predominantly high-tech customer base. TigerDirect took roughly 50 days to pass the $1m mark, based on its own projections.

Notably, TigerDirect saw a 50% spike on sales of some items in the aftermath of the announcement. The top-selling items on the site were video cards, power units, tablets, Xbox units and other high-tech items.

Overstock did not provide hard figures as to when it passed $1m in total, citing legal reasons, but did suggest that this mark was passed in mid-February. The Utah-based e-commerce giant later confirmed this figure on 4th March.

The similar timelines indicate that TigerDirect may not have had a sales advantage, though its audience and bitcoin's were more likely to overlap.

Merchant impact

TigerDirect's success is likely to play a key role in convincing more merchants to accept bitcoin payments, given that it has now proven to be a large and consistent revenue stream for two major merchants.

Earlier this week, US retailer Lord & Taylor's parent company Hudson Bay Co. revealed Overstock played a key role in convincing it that it was time to test the waters with bitcoin.

The news comes as bitcoin merchant processors such as BitPay and Coinbase continue to add merchants at an increasing rate. BitPay has indicated it is now adding more than 1,000 merchants per week.

Disclaimer: CoinDesk founder Shakil Khan is an investor in BitPay.