By Claire Reilly
After the launch of Samsung’s newest line-up of TV and AV products in Sydney on Wednesday — including the brands new ultra-premium Ultra High Definition TV with a $40,000 price tag — Samsung Australia’s director of AV, Brad Wright, spoke to Current.com.au about what the range would offer retailers.
While Wright was unable to confirm the locations that would be stocking the Ultra HD S9 television, he said retailers across Australia would benefit from the “halo effect” of Samsung’s premium feature set.
“[For retailers], there will obviously be a commercial interest in them selling the product and there’s a halo effect also,” he said. “You’ve got Samsung’s flagship product and the flagship product of the industry in your store and that’s going to attract people to come in and look at it, even if they’re not in the market for a $40,000 TV.
“But you know what? They might pick up an F8000 model [Samsung’s top-of-the-line LED TV] while they’re in there or look at the new F8500 Plasma TV. You’ve got customers who can walk in and buy an entry model, a 32-inch TV, right up to a $40,000 model.”
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Regardless of what customers are in the market for, Wright said there were three key selling points that underpin the whole of the new TV line-up, and that both large and small retailers should communicate these to consumers.
“The first thing is — regardless of screen size, series or product — Samsung’s got great picture quality. At the end of the day, retailers can comfortably and confidently talk to the consumer and say that Samsung picture quality is best-in-market. And that’s one of the key things that people purchasing big screens in particular say, everyone says picture quality is king.
“The second thing is the range and the breadth of what we offer. So we’re not just bringing out a range of 200Hz or 800Hz TVs, there’s a lot there. There’s small screens, there’s big screens.
“But I think the big thing that’s really exciting for me this year is that the Smart TV story. Right from the 5500 LED, which is an incredibly accessible product in terms of price point, [all the new products] have the Smart Hub.
“The Smart Hub is a way to engage consumers, to say ‘Hey, connected TV gives you all this’. It’s not something that’s really hard to understand or that’s going to be difficult to sell. Retailers should bring the Smart Hub up and have that conversation with the customer.”
But for those consumers that are going all out and purchasing the $40,000 S9 UHD TV, Wright said the customer experience — with a focus on delivering a “white glove” service — would be unparalleled.
“The 85-inch S9 is a statement piece. It’s saying what Samsung is capable of and there are going to be people in the market that are prepared to pay for that, they want a statement product in their homes.
“We offer a $40,000 bespoke, white glove program. We’ll contact you post sale, we’ll send someone in for a pre-installation inspection, we’ll get the area in your home that the TV needs to go, we’ll contact you to let you know when it’s been produced, when it’s on a ship, when it’s coming and we’ll come and put it in. And we’ll walk away and you’ve had the white glove experience, the best thing that this industry has seen.
“It’s been a tough couple of years for retailers, and it’s time that we started taking a real positive, proactive approach to the market and saying people are prepared to spend on good technology.”
Read Current.com.au's wrap up of Samsung's new TV and AV range here, and check out the full image gallery here.