Retail Observer

RO S enior Vice President of Appliances, Patrick Maloney, said appliances put in a strong performance in 2014. "The appliance business is tougher today than it ever has been. There are more retailers fighting for fewer consumers. We must be able to stand and fight when the market gets tough. By utilizing a blended margin strategy and taking a step back to look at margins over a period of time vs. daily, the profit picture becomes sharper. Don't get me wrong; we believe there are still challenges in this wholesale/retail promotions cadence. The front side, opening margins have not been acceptable and we need a clearer path to profitability. But the reality is, we cannot afford to run for cover during holidays in hope to save margin. We need to own the consumers during the holiday period as much as we need them outside of these windows," said Maloney. Tom Hickman, senior vice president of electronics, reported that the TV industry continues to change. Hickman says, "CE business is moving faster than ever and 4K adoption will come sooner than anyone expected. In fact, according to industry body IHS technology, global shipments of Ultra HD TV LCD panels exceeded 1 million units for the first time in March 2014. Our friends at another industry group Display Search predict that the technology growth trend for 4k is staggering and will be faster than the digital, LED, or 3d transition. In fact, they predict that 4k will have 90% penetration in 50+ by 2017. That's one of the fastest adoptions of a new technology in TV history, my friends. Add to this the fact that we have already seen roadmap plans and introductions of new models showing the magical $1999 and $999 price points in high velocity sizes and the race is on for available market share." With continually increasing attendance numbers at PrimeTime! from the Furniture category, the group devoted a full day just before the show floor opened to their Furniture Summit, where dealers were able to take advantage of exclusive deals. Bill Bazemore, VP of Nationwide Furniture, said, "There is a desire amongst today's consumers to support the American economy and the American worker. Given the choice, consumers will buy American made products over imported products if the quality, style, value and price are comparable or better. Nationwide Furniture has recognized this desire amongst today's consumers and has the answer for both you and your customer. A Nationwide exclusive called iAmerica is doing just that! The heart of iAmerica is appealing to today's consumers and addresses all of their wants and needs, such as better style, an enhanced quality, enhanced experience, greater selection, and so much more. To support this initiative, the iAmerica program includes proprietary product manufactured exclusively for Nationwide members by Serta, Catnapper, Jackson Furniture and Vaughn-Bassett. The Nationwide exclusive of iAmerica is opening the door for groundbreaking opportunities. The iAmerica message hits home with consumers. iAmerica is a turn-key solution which includes advertising, POP, merchandise, television ads, and so much." James MacAlpine, senior VP member development, reported that attendance at RTO industry functions is actually down, but the group has seen consistently strong attendance at PrimeTime! with 120+ members attending the August 2014 show. "We're seeing expansion in our members that are doing franchising, but the overall RTO industry still continues to face strong economic headwinds. We've added cellphones and cellphone plans as a new category for the independent channel and we've seen an increase in vendors looking to expand into the RTO channel," said MacAlpine. Some of the newest web service initiatives included the announce- ment of the continuing growth of the group's Just Say Yes initiative, described by Senior VP of Member Services Frank Sandtner, as the group's latest digital marketing opportunity for retailers. Sandtner said, "As fewer searches are completed on desktops and laptops, ecommerce companies lose their advantage of a rich landing page and sales conversion from each web lead. Local retailers gain their advantage of proximity from the consumer and a quick click-to-call button. The icing on the cake – phone leads are ten times more likely to convert than web leads." Rick Weinberg, senior VP marketing, discussed the new marketing initative. "New for 2014, we have developed complete 360* Multi Platform Media Packages delivering you media asset solutions for Television, Print, Email marketing, Instore Static Signage, Instore Digital Signage, even direct mail media assets to assure your fishing in the right media lakes, with the right media message (bait) and using the right equipment. Our retailers' media messages are supercharged with the most advantageous consumer offers from many of our more popular manufacturing partners in Appliances, Electronics, Furnture and Bedding and that provides the strong net to assist you to land that big consumer fish. It can't get easier but it gets even better. Many of these complete packages are at very, very low group funded costs and pre- approved for coop claims by some of our most popular vendors," said Weinberg. Nationwide also announced they are the proud recipients of the 2014 Partner of the Year Award from ENERGY STAR, for the second year in a row. The next PrimeTime! show will be held March 8-11, 2015 at the Gaylord Texan in Dallas, Texas. Visit www.nationwideprimetime.com for additional information. AUGUST 2014 PRIMETIME RECAP

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