Best Buy has fallen on hard times in a sluggish economy, suffering a dismal drop in sales and an overall $1.2 billion loss over the last fiscal year. The electronics giant announced Thursday that it will close 50 stores and cut 400 jobs at its Richfield, Minn., corporate headquarters, hoping to save $800 million over the next three years in order to stay afloat.

While the company performs damage control, it faces an uphill climb with steep competition from Wal-Mart and Amazon. Wal-Mart, without question, beats out its competitors when it comes to low prices. The company is able to do this by providing cheaply imported goods manufactured at low-cost in countries like China.

Its electronic goods are cheap, but limited, which is where Best Buy, as an electronics-centered business, has the upper hand.

As for Amazon, it is able to deliver products at competitively low prices using the Internet rather than physical stores, which suck up a significant amount of revenue to maintain. Here again, Best Buy is beat on affordable prices, and for some customers, the convenience of making purchases online is a plus. Selection is wide and they can search for they want without having to deal with crowds or checkout lines.

But the value of physically seeing a product, testing it, and taking it home the same day cannot be underestimated, which Best Buy can leverage against its online rival.

Best Buy Closings: How Apple, Wal-Mart and Amazon Are Killing The Electronics Retail Giant - International Business Times