CEA Accessories Primer Guides Retailers On Customer Relations

By Staff On Feb 24 2003 - 8:00am

A sales tool that zeroes in on improving customer satisfaction through more effective retail selling of accessories is available from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) Accessories Division.

Called "Increasing Profits Through the Effective Retailing of CE Accessories," the white paper describes best selling practices in the CE industry and develops suggestions for improving customer satisfaction. It is available for download at www.ce.org/totalsale.

"Consumer electronics accessories provide an excellent opportunity for CE retailers to increase their profitability," said Neil Terk, president of Terk Technologies and chairman of the CEA Accessories Division. "As described in the white paper, accessories typically have higher margins, relatively low price sensitivity and are of growing value to customers due to the increasing complexity of products being sold. Accessories enhance the CE experience and are an important profit-making category that retailers should not overlook."

In its first section, the paper reviews the overall accessories business and accessories customer buying behavior based on research conducted by CEA.

The second deals with analyzing seven key practice areas and makes recommendations for creating company-wide improvements in accessories focus and sales.

Areas include maintaining a well-trained sales staff, utilizing floor space, creating effective promotions, merchandising, developing successful retailer/manufacturer relationships, motivating salespeople and increasing management focus and optimizing inventory levels and floor stock.

A third section concludes with best practice recommendations.

Research for the paper was conducted by the University of Florida's Center for Retailing Education and Research.

The document also references two accessories-related reports conducted by CEA Market Research, namely "CE Consumer Education," released in August 2002 and "Accessory Purchasing Habits," released in May 2001.