Leading service provider, Tempo has helped reinvigorate the Sharp brand in the Australian market with a strong focus on growing the premium microwave category.

Tempo, having obtained the distribution rights to Sharp Consumer Electronics and Durable products in mid-2020 and commenced selling Sharp from September 2020 has seen consistent growth in Sharp products.

Leading the charge for Sharp Home Appliances in Australia, Nigel Dent and Matt Pearce have both brough extensive industry experience, having previously worked together for brands including Panasonic.

“Tempo first started as a sourcing business, either for a brand or private label, or brand licensing. Matt and I joined the business to support Sharp in traditional retail channels,” Dent told Appliance Retailer.

“Over the last three years, we’ve been able to re-establish the Sharp brand and the most satisfying part about that is that Sharp is still a brand highly valued by the consumer, but for whatever reason Sharp themselves struggled to communicate that value consistently.

“We’re doing substantial volume within the microwave category, particularly in the premium segment, which is unlike many distributors. We’ve also got many different categories we’re working on for the future.”

Tempo wants to help drive ASPs for its retail partners – not only by increasing price, but increasing demonstrable features that consumers are looking for, and the inclusion of air fry capabilities in its latest microwaves are a perfect example.

“We want to help reduce the number of appliances on the kitchen bench for families that aren’t air frying every night but want to occasionally air fry. We’ve been able to drive convection microwave sales by adding that feature set and bringing excitement to the category,” Dent said.

“In the microwave category, a lot of models have been in market for five or more years. On average, most Sharp models have only been in market for 12 to 18 months so we’re helping reinvigorate the category and both end consumers and retailers are embracing that.”

Previously, Tempo offered Sharp products across several categories beyond microwaves but found that those products weren’t always matching retailer and consumer demand.

“We’ve taken the time to review the categories and the market and made the decision to take a step back from categories like air purification. But we’re working with Sharp headquarters in Japan to discuss new products and new opportunities,” Pearce added.

“We want to ensure we’ve got good market fit in terms of what consumers are looking to buy. It needs to make sense for Sharp and Tempo, as well as our retail partners.”

Tempo has also been working with Sharp Japan to meet local government regulations on product packaging and the removal of expanded polystyrene (EPS).

“The Western Australian government has been pushing hard on the removal of EPS, specifically for products under 45kg. In our production from the end of June, there will be no EPS in any Sharp packaging, which will significantly improve the environmental sustainability of the product and make it easier to break down and dispose of the cardboard.”

Feature image: Tempo team: Matt Pearce, Nigel Dent & Nick Stergiotis.