Hardscrabble Holiday Sales
By Steve Smith -- TWICE, 12/7/2009
Black Friday, Cyber Monday and all of the promotions that made last month seem like “Black November” have come and gone.
There were plenty of crowds, plenty of good deals, and plenty of coverage in the consumer media, but just like the rest of 2009, it looks like it will be difficult even for the most popular of categories — consumer electronics — to build revenue, not to mention elusive profits.
Last week the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) revised its fourth-quarter forecast, saying that revenue will be down 5.9 percent. However, CEA estimated that unit volume will be up by the same percentage in units.
So, if the survey is correct, this is a decidedly mixed bag for the CE industry. Consumers still love CE products, but for lower prices.
As for our Black Friday coverage in this issue, led by senior editor Alan Wolf, consumers came to buy — not to shop. Impulse purchases seem to be a thing of the past ... unless the deal is right.
Consumers came to stores or went online with a specific model number or product in mind for a specific price point. Reports indicated that many consumers came to stores intending to spend only the cash they had in their wallets — no plastic.
Why? Aside from the economy, the credit card industry has rushed in the past few weeks to jack up interest rates with a zeal that would make loan sharks blush ... so much for the Christmas spirit. The credit card guys are doing it in advance of new federal laws coming in February that are designed to clean up the credit card industry's act. We'll see how that goes.
When you add anxiety about the economy, high unemployment numbers and war, these aren't the best conditions to get the populace in the holiday spirit and shop.
After all the hype surrounding Black Friday, what will be very interesting will be the results of sales for this past weekend and the next two prior to Christmas. Will CE sales dip sharply or somehow remain consistent and spike upward close to Dec. 25?
This holiday sales season will be better than last year. But to meet revenue and profit targets for the holiday season it will probably be a hardscrabble battle, just like the rest of this woe begotten year when flat sales became the new growth curve.
TWICE Sold To NewBay Media
As you may have read online last week or can read on p. 4, TWICE has been sold by Reed Business Information U.S., along with two sister publications Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News, to NewBay Media, based here in New York.
NewBay is home to print and online properties covering broadcasting, pro audio, and A/V and consumer electronics. For those of you in the custom-installation business, NewBay is home to Residential Systems and Systems Contractor News. Our publisher Marcia Grand, our staff and yours truly are pleased to be joining NewBay and look forward to working with our new colleagues.
As for what this means to you, our readers, rest assured that TWICE will continue to be the publication of record for the CE industry, delivering breaking news and analyzing trends in this exciting business. We, as always, look forward to the future and welcome your input and support.
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