i3 - January/February 2020 - 94

Business

By Steve Smith

T
REC
E TA
HI P
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AT EG I E S

Top Retail Groups
Ask 'What's Next'
at CES

he country's leading retail buying groups
are gathering once again in Las Vegas
for CES, to check out emerging new
categories for 2020, as well as networking with
existing vendors, and possible new ones.

Nationwide Marketing Group

Nationwide created its own Connected
Home Division and began a partnership
with AT&T to offer smart home services
last year. Tom Hickman, president and
chief member advocate, says, "This will
be an inflection year for [the connected
home] and for our dealers." But he cautioned there is no shortage of vendors
offering connected products. He says,
"You can go to a custom integrator for a
great experience but there isn't a great
mass experience at retail."
Hickman says Nationwide's
Connected Home and AT&T effort
will change the retail experience. "It's
a huge opportunity. We offer solutions
for independent retailers that put it all
together. That's what Nationwide is
focused on delivering in 2020." And
he adds, "We have to tell [consumers]
stories, why they need it and how connected products can improve their
lives, those are the kind of things that
will drive the business."
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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

BrandSource

AVB/BrandSource
also sees opportunities
in the connected
home, as well as the
premium 4K and
emerging 8K TV markets with its appliance
and electronics expertise. Jim Ristow,
CEO of AVB/BrandSource, remarks,
"In ultra large TVs, 70- to 75-inch and
larger, the market is growing at an
unbelievable pace and it is profitable.
Over 90% of them are sold at brickand-mortar locations or true click-andbrick," with dealers delivering and
installing these big boxes. "It's in the
wheelhouse of our members."
He adds that many BrandSource
members signed up for a special
Samsung turnkey solution which enables
independents that are re-entering the
premium TV categories to bundle them
with "simple, elegant audio solutions.
I think this whole turnkey solution
has been a bigger missing link than anyone thought."
In the smart appliance business,
BrandSource members' appliance expertise is "our pedigree and history," but it
is new technology. Ristow adds that
ProSource, the affiliated specialty electronics and custom integration group
headed by CEO and President Dave

Workman, is working with their retailers
"to help our appliance-centric members
on this. What we've learned is there
isn't just one silver bullet to get truly
engaged in smart appliances. It has to be
a multi-pronged approach, just like we
discussed with ultra large TVs - a turnkey strategy."

ProSource

Workman said TV inventories go
through ProSource's system "in one way
or another." In connected home "there
are some exceptions," such as do-ityourself products. But ProSource's premium TVs are "Samsung, Sony and LG
and we actually make money on TVs.
If you focus on the profitable part of
the business, that's why Jim and his
team are talking about revenue growth
to get [some BrandSource dealers]
back into TVs."
Workman notes connected home
products are, "a little different" for
BrandSource dealers versus ProSource
members. "For BrandSource you have to
I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

Hakule/Getty Images

Retail group executives say the connected
home, smart appliances, 8K TVs, and the
rollout of 5G will be hot commodities at
CES, along with a couple of surprises, no
doubt. They believe their independent
retailers and installers, with their expertise, should sell these categories profitably as they roll out.

i3 - January/February 2020

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