Stephen Baker, of The NPD Group presented at Electronics Event 3/23/2015
During the ECRM Electronics Retail Summit, Stephen Baker, Vice President, Industry Analysis at the NPD Group presented before a group of consumer electronics manufacturers and buyers. Stephen’s presentation focused on the way that categories are dramatically shifting in the market and his advice for the crowd was not to focus on the competition but rather, he suggested, it is more important to focus on where the market is going in the future.
Stephen continued the presentation by discussing how CE categories are performing, the shifts within the retail industry and the timing of when consumers purchase CE items. Below are some of the major highlights from the presentation:
With a shift in the marketplace the price of consumer electronics products has been driven down which in turn opens the door for entry level consumers to enter into the market.
An increasing number of consumer electronics products are being sold in secondary retailers like Kohl’s, Home Depot, etc. this opens the door for suppliers to enter those retailers with focused niche offerings.
Home automation products are on the cusp of growth as niche product offerings are doing extremely well at specialty retail channels. Baker goes on to say that the consumers who are purchasing home automation products are not ready to buy an entire product line rather they are purchasing a single product that will resolve their issue, whether that be a light bulb or a door lock. This is why suppliers should direct their home automation efforts towards focused and niche items.
Amazon holds strong in the ecommerce market but Best Buy and Walmart have both manages to keep pace with Amazon as they have designed online platforms that are generating sales.
Mobile accessories are the fastest growing sub-category within the Consumer Electronics (CE). But consumers are not just purchasing accessories upon purchasing a device; instead, there is great opportunity for multiple consumer purchases throughout the life of their device.
