Following the Oculus Rift's limited launch at Best Buy's physical locations, the virtual reality headset has now gone live at the retailer's web site . In-store pick-up is not available, so interested shoppers will want to rush to the site and pick a shipping option should they want a headset with estimated delivery as soon as June 3rd—which may still be quicker than trying to buy from Oculus's own site. We imagine this availability will be gone almost as quickly as this update goes live.: Annnnd it's sold out. Best Buy has not indicated that it will restock the online store at all today.

Original report, May 2, 2:20 p.m. ET: The Oculus Rift virtual reality headset will be available for demonstration and purchase at select Best Buy stores starting May 7 (and for purchase through Amazon and Microsoft Stores online starting at 9am Pacific on May 6). That means walk-in customers at brick-and-mortar stores will be able to get their headset well before many who pre-ordered the system directly from Oculus months ago.

While Oculus started taking Rift pre-orders in January and officially started shipping the units in March, many early pre-orders have seen their shipping date estimates slip amid production delays. In April, Oculus admitted that an "unexpected component shortage" meant early adopters could have to wait an extra month or two from initial estimates to receive their units. Orders placed on the Oculus site right now are slated for August delivery.

Oculus says that retail availability will be "extremely limited while we catch up on Rift pre-orders." Still, the company realizes that many early pre-order purchasers may try to pick up a unit from the local Best Buy rather than continuing to wait for their online order. Those users will be able to cancel their pre-orders from the Oculus Store while still keeping access to pre-order bonuses like Eve: Valkyrie and priority access to future Oculus Touch controller orders.

The slow rollout for Oculus Rift pre-orders has arguably blunted some of the momentum the company had going into its launch, limiting word-of-mouth buzz and in-person evangelizing from eager virtual reality early adopters (HTC's Vive headset saw similar delays for some early orders). With Sony set to launch its cheaper and more accessible PlayStation VR solution in October (and giving in-store demos of the headset starting in June), the PC-based competition needs to get out in front of as many people as possible as quickly as possible to help carve out a market position.

Those interested in trying the Rift before they buy can use this interactive map to find a nearby Best Buy hosting demos and schedule an appointment. HTC rolled out a similar in-store demo program for the SteamVR-powered Vive headset last month.