By Claire Reilly
After the boom and bust in the flat panel TV market over recent years, the major consumer electronics brands are looking to revive the visual category with new products. This year will see a raft of new products entering the market, with massive 70-inch-plus and Ultra High Definition panels (also known as ‘4K’) already on the market, and plenty of talk of new OLED technology.
But beyond the marketing spin and buzz being generated by the suppliers, what do retailers think? Current.com.au sat down with two retailers from Sydney’s western suburbs to talk about what’s really happening in consumer electronics retail at the moment.
Brad Hall, store manager of JB Hi-Fi Parramatta, and Raed “RJ” Jawad, the store’s 2IC, give their view on the industry.
What’s your verdict on the consumer electronics market this year?
Brad Hall: I think the visual category is pretty flat and lacking some excitement. So 4K TV, will that be enough to spur on the market? I’m not sure. I think it’s better, but I just wonder if it’s that much better and enough to compel someone to get rid of a perfectly good TV and put another one there. 4K is amazing, but it’s not like the huge growth that we’ve had with set-top boxes — consumers coming in and saying my TV doesn’t work anymore so I’ve got to get a new TV. That’s not the case anymore.
So you’ve seen a lot of growth with the switch-off of analogue TV?
BH: Well it’s been great for five years. People were upgrading to get ready for the switchover to digital, but that ‘you must upgrade’ impetus is not there anymore. RJ, do you think 4K is going to be a revolution?
Raed Jawad: For the price-point? No. People don’t have that money. It looks great, but people can’t justify it, the money’s going elsewhere I think. So it’s not going to help the stores.
So being in Sydney’s western suburbs, what is your target market? What do customers around here look for?
RJ: A great deal and cheap prices! Our clientele is very aggressive, and that’s the mindset that we need our staff to have as well. Sometimes we do have to take a deal, or sometimes we do have to make a big discount, but we try and focus on making it back with all the add-ons. So the complete sale if you like. Rather than just coming in and just buying the TV, what else are we going to sell with that TV to make back margin?
BH: Yes, I think here and at certain other stores out in Sydney’s west, it’s cut throat. Bondi Junction doesn’t have that — it’s Platinum Amex, Platinum Amex, Platinum Amex! We don’t have any Platinum Amex! It’s the same store and same products, but very different customers and very different mindsets. We’d have similar sales, but probably a different bottom line.
What products are popular in your store, and what are your customers gravitating towards?
BH: Computers are massive, Windows 8 is massive, tablets and touchscreens are massive — and TV doesn’t really have any of that, there’s no revolution. But in computers, it is massive. So that’s been good for us.
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What are your picks for products this year? What’s coming through that you’re excited about?
B: Well I think more of the Asus TaiChi-style of product — double screen laptops, touch screen laptops, more of that. There are a couple out now, but then once the ranges expand, that’s exciting. We’re looking forward to a new iPhone some time this year, that’s exciting. The Galaxy S4 is launching soon, that’s exciting. That’s not our biggest category, but we sell a lot of devices, a lot of outright iPhones and outright Galaxies, so we’re excited about things like that.
And what’s your big pick for the year, RJ?
RJ: The S4 is going to be better again than the S3, which dominated. And from a personal point of view, I want to see the new TVs. It’s probably not going to help us much in sales, but I want to know, where else can they take it? How thin are they going to get? How much better is the picture going to be? And in terms of 4K, leaving the price-point aside, is it going to gather interest at all? Personally, I can’t wait for it, but whether we get a response or not is a different story.
There are certainly some new features coming through in terms of Smart TV though…
RJ: That’s the thing I’m worried about. How many other gimmicks are they going to do, and do people really care? Samsung, two series ago, had the hand motion detector. People look at that sort of thing in store, and it’s good for about two minutes, but it wasn’t really a selling point. People want to be in control [with a remote].
BH: Yes, it’s all about how it translates to people in the street, whether that’s exciting or not.
How have customers responded to big screens?
RJ: Two years ago 46-inches was the norm for a big TV. Now it’s 55-inches as a minimum. So in people’s minds it’s a case of ‘We’ll use 55-inches as a base and we’ll work from there’.
BH: The brands are going to 90- and 100-inch models, where are we going to fit them?! So I’m not overly excited about visual. The companies are trying to do some new stuff and create some buzz, but is it enough to translate into a mass run of products? I’m not sure. Sure there are early adopters, but as far as visual going through the roof again, I think that will take a while.
RJ: I think it will be up to us as to how we teach our staff and how they can translate it and get the customers excited in store. They can’t just be looking at the picture and the price. We’ve got to sell it to them, saying ‘This is the best, and you’ve got to have it for these reasons’.
BH: And that’s why we have the 80-inch Sharp TV on display, right in the front of the store. People see it and say ‘It’s amazing’. So, how about you buy it? We try and start the conversation.
Raed "RJ" Jawad and Brad Hall from JB Hi-Fi Parramatta, standing in front of Sharp's new 80-inch flat panel TV.