Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy says that it views the used games market as “a strategically very interesting business".

In June the company announced that several of its stores would begin testing automated kiosks that purchase used games and then issue vouchers redeemable for a Best Buy gift card, and the company now appears keen to step up its efforts in the market.

Ryan Robinson, senior vice president and the chief financial officer for Best Buy's US unit, told Dow Jones Newswires (via the Wall Street Journal): "What I think is something that we've missed in the industry and is something other participants have been doing is the proportion of business that is used. We've not developed the capability to the extent that other participants have. It's a very margin-rich portion, so I think there's opportunity in that business."

While Roberts wouldn’t comment directly on speculation linking the company with a $4.2 billion takeover of GameStop, he did say that Best Buy wasn’t traditionally in favour of “big-bang type” acquisitions.

“Our preference has been identifying management teams that have additive capabilities and think about how they're extendable into the Best Buy business," he said.

Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian has suggested that Best Buy’s move to begin testing automated trade-in kiosks would likely expand the used games market “rather than take significant share” from the specialty channel. He estimates the size of the commercial used games market in the $2.5 billion range worldwide.