Carson, Calif. – New Age Electronics is launch an extensive
Windows 8 retail training and merchandising program beginning next month and
continuing through the holiday season when the new operating system is expected
to be introduced.
Fred Towns, president of New Age Electronics and video game
distributor Jack of All Games, which are both part of parent company Synnex, told
TWICE the effort’s goal is to “educate retailers about Windows 8 so they can
handle consumers’ questions and get them
excited about the operating system.”
The effort, which is being coordinated by VP Bob Culliton, who
joined New Age last fall and is a 20-year veteran of Microsoft, will “get the message out to dealers how the
platform is different and how it will be supported by a complete ecosystem of
[hardware] products” from PCs to accessories, Towns said.
The program will begin with discussions with retailers in
late May and early June with more info as it becomes available from Microsoft
— which Towns described as a “deeply integrated partner — from late June
through mid-August.
In August the distributor will host its New Age Electronics
Dealers Summit in Chicago from Aug. 8-10 in which Windows 8 will have a major
role.
After August, logistics will take over — there will be a
ton of products supporting the new operating system and New Age will let its
dealers know what products will be available and when. Windows 8 is expected to
be introduced by “late fall or in the early holiday season” timeframe, the
distributor said.
A main goal of New Age’s program is to take a “proactive
approach” on communication and educating of retailers on “key messaging points,
how to display and merchandise products,” the distributor said so its retailers
will be experts on Windows 8 and be able to answer consumer questions.
As part of the effort a Windows 8 microsite will be launched
on the Synnex and New Age websites on June 2 that will include third-party
analysis, product features, key products coming to market (PCs, accessories and
other devices) as well as product guides and overviews on every product for
retail sales associates, or, as Towns put it: “How to bring all the [Windows 8]
products to life in their stores.”
Windows 8 will initially be a PC initiative, but Towns said
part of the retailer training will be “how you can merchandise complimentary
products with the [Windows 8] PCs … and tell the story.”
He noted that while Windows 8 will begin in PCs, it will
move to tablets and, next year, to Windows 8 smartphones, which will give
consumers “a Windows 8 environment” from device to device that will provide “a
comfort zone” for consumers on how these devices work together.
