Connected Changes

Whether you call it "connectivity," or "home networking" or plain old "convergence" the idea has made a comeback of sorts. The combination of new and existing CE and PC products working together is going to become all the rage during 2004.

Some major and traditional CE chains will revamp their approach and their stores to make this long-stated goal a reality. Take a look at the plans of Best Buy and Good Guys (see p. 20) as prime examples.

The concept never really left some radar screens in the industry. Manufacturers have worked on the concept of home networking for over a decade. They continued to develop technologies to make it a reality. Custom installers continued to sell and build early forms of home networking for the past several years.

But traditional retailers never fully embraced the concept because their major suppliers talked a good game, especially at events such as the Consumer Electronics Show, but never had the products available to convert that talk into reality.

Well, things changed at CES this year. The strategies that Microsoft, Panasonic, Philips and Pioneer, among others, showcased in Las Vegas have real products behind them.

Forward thinking electronics/appliance retailers should want to cash in on this new trend by revamping their stores and training their salespeople. The approach could, and should, be as simple as creating "connectivity" departments, just like many built home theater vignettes years ago. But the technologies in these new departments should be actively demonstrated and displayed.

Of course changing store layouts and more sales training costs money, even if your friendly suppliers foot part of the bill. But if you don't make an attempt, you really won't be part of the CE business of the next few years. If your salespeople are only capable of individual items — camcorders, cameras, DVD players, etc. — you will be stuck in the "The Commodity Zone." (Yes, you can hum "The Twilight Zone" theme here, because it is scarier than that.)

This whole "connectivity" idea is as much about merchandising as it is about technology. In a transitional era of the CE business your employees must provide answers and service. For retailers large and small, an investment must be made. It's as simple as that.