The 2014 FIFA World Cup, a mini housing boom and attractive new mobile devices will drive sales at Harvey Norman stores and online over the coming months, the company has revealed.
Although the build-up to the football World Cup, being staged in Brazil and featuring at least three Socceroos matches, has been muted compared with Germany in 2006 and South Africa in 2010, Harvey Norman still expects fans to invest in new TVs and home theatre products to maximise the home viewing experience. The World Cup begins with Brazil v Croatia on the evening of 12 June 2014, while the Socceroos play Chile, the Netherlands and Spain during the Groups Stages of the month-long tournament.
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In 2010, when an optimistic Australia was preparing for the World Cup, there was feverish excitement by the start of March, with Sony leading the charge by promoting its 3D panels and other high-end products. This year, Official FIFA Partner Sony has been very quiet as to its plans for the World Cup, even cancelling a planned press conference scheduled for Thursday 6 March 2014.
Harvey Norman still believes the sales rush will eventuate.
“With the staging of the FIFA World Cup in Brazil this June, strong growth is expected in the last quarter (of FY2014) from the sale of Smart TVs, larger screen OLED TVs and the fast growing Ultra High Definition TV category (50-inch plus),” Harvey Norman said in a statement.
“Harvey Norman franchisees are well-placed to benefit from this growth area given the floor space they have and the ability to showcase big screen TVs.”
Major sporting events have traditionally provided surges in sales of TVs and other home entertainment products, with leading suppliers regularly timing promotional activity around the Olympic Games and the footy finals. While Samsung did buy media to promote its mobile devices during the 2014 Winter Olympics, fellow Olympic Games sponsor Panasonic was not noticeably active during this event.
Appliance sales are also expected to grow throughout the year due to positive activity in the property and housing markets.
“Australian house prices are expected to continue rise this and housing construction is set to grow in the year ahead. This will be a positive for the furniture, bedding, whitegoods, cooking and appliance categories.”
Harvey Norman is also banking on contracted mobile phone users returning to the market during the coming months as their 24-month cycles mature. It is expected that before the end of the 2014 financial year, Samsung will release its much-hyped Galaxy S5 handset, HTC will unleash the new One to the masses and, although as yet unannounced, there is still the possibility of a new iPhone before the end of June 2014.
To keep its retail brand at consumers’ front-of-mind, Harvey Norman has been investing millions of a dollars in a TV campaign based around the tagline, “Shop with Confidence”. This campaign is not subtle in promoting the in-store Harvey Norman experience, and it features presumably real Harvey Norman franchisees, staff and customers sharing their positive bricks-and-mortar retail experiences. Despite this need to continue advertising its franchisees’ businesses, Harvey Norman is banking on its online offering to contribute more and more to revenue.
“Our omnichannel strategy continues to strengthen with further integration between stores and online,” the company said. “The increased product range online, supported by live chat capability and a click and collect service…is driving digital revenue growth both in store and online.