dealerscope

The refrigerator is one of the most used, yet hardest to organize, appliances in the household. Users of traditional refrigerators often find it difficult to keep track of produce and other perishable items leading to food waste or overstocking. But what if your refrigerator could take inventory and tell you exactly what was in it, then give you recipes using only those ingredients–all without requiring you to open the door? The sixth-generation Family Hub Smart Refrigerator from Samsung, which was unveiled this past week, does just that.    While earlier generations featured Samsung’s proprietary Bixby voice assistant, the new Family Hub refrigerator is the first to come with Alexa built-in, giving a broader swathe of users access to Amazon’s ubiquitous and comprehensive hands-free voice control capabilities. The Family Hub touch screen panel also includes a new feature that allows you to control all of your Samsung smart appliances and devices, stream music, mirror your TV, and share

The rise in popularity of eCommerce platforms allows for previously unachievable interconnectivity within the marketplace. This past week, Nationwide Marketing Group announced the expansion of its eXchange eCommerce platform with a new endless aisle feature. On the eXchange platform, Nationwide members can browse and shop hundreds of brands and thousands of items from the group’s partner distributors and vendors. Designed to support Nationwide members with active eCommerce capabilities, the endless aisle feature allows Nationwide members to take products directly from the eXchange platform and add them to their websites. This gives Nationwide members the ability to experiment with carrying potential products without the commitment of obtaining physical inventory.  “By opening up the endless aisle feature, our retailers can now test certain product lines and brands, experiment with entirely new product categories, adjust their mix for seasonality and availability, and more,” explained N

What’s the history of DataVision?  I’ve been in the consumer electronics and PC businesses for a long time. Before DataVision, I ran a company called United Computer. We were one of the first Apple dealers and then launched the Next computer before Steve Jobs went back to Apple. Then, in 1990, I started DataVision, primarily as a mail-order catalog business, back when everything was thriving in the PC and consumer electronics businesses. For the first two years, before we opened our first retail store, we were catalog-based. We’re one of the first actual computer mail-order businesses, for both consumers and B2B. Then, in 1993, we opened our first flagship store on Fifth Avenue and 39th St. We advertised in Computer Shopper and other magazines, and customers would just call an 800 number to order what they needed.   We’ve always been a major part of the retail landscape in New York, but since we’ve been online since the start of the Web, a big part of the focus of our business is onlin

The pre-COVID consumer and the peak-COVID consumer each have their discernible differences. But, as the state of the pandemic stands today, it’s time to start preparing for a new consumer who will possesses traits of each: the post-COVID consumer. Because even as things get back to normal, they are not getting back to the same. The Budget and Tech-Savvy Consumer Today’s consumers should not be underestimated when it comes to their tech and budget savviness. They are now armed with the know-how and confidence to seek shopping solutions that work best for them, whether it be shopping online, scheduling curbside pickups, or BOPIS (Buy Online, Pick Up In Store) ordering. Comparing prices and hunting for deals has also never been more prominent. While it is true that we saw many of these habits even before the pandemic, the past year and a half has exceedingly conditioned shoppers to begin their journeys online. Looking ahead, even as stores begin opening at full capacity and lifting mask p

Black Friday is five months away, but retailers are already considering the best strategies to reel in customers — and a key part of that is embracing e-commerce. Last year, there was virtually zero in-person shopping for Black Friday because the coronavirus pandemic severely limited retail and forced many stores to close. Some large retail chains, like GameStop, closed more than 462 brick-and-mortar locations in favor of selling entirely online. Storefronts that weren’t purged were mainly used as in-store pickup points for online buyers. Coresight’s senior analyst, John Harmon, told Dealerscope that while malls were once typically the hot destination for Black Friday or Cyber Monday, that’s no longer the case. “This year, many consumers remain reluctant to visit stores and malls (28.9 percent as of the Jun e 14 Coresight Research survey) and have increasingly warmed to online shopping, much of which will become permanent,” he said. “Though still reluctant, consumers are less reluctant

WiSA today announced the WiSA SoundSend Certified program, a new certification initiative developed to ensure seamless connectivity and interoperability with the WiSA SoundSend wireless audio transmitter. The program was developed by the Association to work with TV manufacturers, and the first on board is Toshiba’s REGZA TV. Other smart TVs can earn this certification status as well once they undergo a series of tests to ensure perfect connectivity with SoundSend. This includes testing all audio connection and control requirements between the SoundSend and the smart TV. “Now more than ever, smart TVs are at the center of the home cinema and con tinue to deliver more and better immersive content,” says WiSA President, Tony Ostrom. “WiSA is helping its TV manufacturing members across the globe easily acquire this standout certification as they’re witnessing SoundSend prove to be an integral part of seamless, wireless home cinema while allowing connection to incredible speaker solutions f

A home audio system is, by definition, a bit of a luxury. There are lots of practical applications for sound in both commercial and residential environments, including privacy, wellness, and notification, but most homeowners think of audio strictly in terms of entertainment. It’s a want, not a need — as such, customers’ appetite for investing in audio tends to be correlated to two things: passion and knowledge. In order to guide customers to the right audio solution, dealers need to help them honestly and accurately locate themselves on the passion scale, and arm them with the knowledge to get the results they truly want. Some people love music, and some people just enjoy it. This same distinction extends to other forms of luxury. There are those who like food and indulge in a n ice cream cone as a treat, and there are those who love food and save up all year for a multi-course tasting menu prepared by a Michelin-starred chef. People who like movies will play one on the living room TV

  A home audio system is, by definition, a bit of a luxury. There are lots of practical applications for sound in both commercial and residential environments, including privacy, wellness, and notification, but most homeowners think of audio strictly in terms of entertainment. It’s a want, not a need — as such, customers’ appetite for investing in audio tends to be correlated to two things: passion and knowledge. In order to guide customers to the right audio solution, dealers need to help them honestly and accurately locate themselves on the passion scale, and arm them with the knowledge to get the results they truly want. Some people love music, and some people just enjoy it. This same distinction extends to other forms of luxury. There are those who like food and indulge in an ice cream cone as a treat, and there are those who love food and save up all year for a multi-course tasting menu prepared by a Michelin-starred chef. People who like movies will play one on t

Skullcandy Inc., makers of affordable stereo headphones and true wireless earbuds, announced a partnership with Bragi, inventor and largest intellectual property owner of true wireless headphones. With Bragi’s software platform featuring embedded AI, Skullcandy now has the ability to create truly smart, future-proof audio products. “Skullcandy has earned our market-leading position due to a keen obsession with our consumer’s adventurous uses,” says Jason Hodell, CEO at Skullcandy. “Giving our fans the freedom to enjoy their content, control their earbuds and enable communications all without taking off their gloves or letting go of the handlebars is an exciting adv ancement for our brand.” A key component of the partnership is the capability to go hands-free with simple voice commands. Users will be able to start and control their media player and accept or reject incoming calls with or without internet. Skullcandy offers direct access to any native voice assistant for seamless functio

 While people are still anxious to return to their local restaurants, the skills and interests they acquired over the last year are here to stay, along with a general interest in health and nutrition. These three kitchen appliances make healthful cooking easier than ever. Accelerating the juicing trend is Breville’s 3X Bluicer Pro ($400), coining a new micro-trend: “Bluicing,” which is mixing fresh juice with fresh blends using the same kitchen appliance. Users can combine freshly extracted juice into blends, while incorporating more fresh fruits and vegetables. It fits comfortably on the counter with a space-saving design that consists of one base with interchangeable parts — a juicing chute with an attachable pulp bin along with a blending jug that doubles as a carafe for juicing. The Ninja Foodi Smoothie Bowl Maker and Nutrient Extractor ($120) is designed specifically for preparing smoothie bowls. The smartTORQUE technology blends and powers through the thickest ingredi

Known best for its sound systems, bookshelf speakers, and personal audio devices, Chinese audio company Edifier announced the July release of its new NeoBuds Pro, which are among the first true wireless earbuds to receive Hi-Res Audio certification. The NeoBuds Pro blends a dynamic driver, a Knowles balanced armature, and a LHDC+AAC codec that allows for the transmitting of 96kHz 24Bit HD audio over Bluetooth. The 24Bit HD audio allows for greater sound resolution in comparison to the standard 16Bit found in most earbuds, with an end result that’s close r to what is heard by musicians and engineers in the studio. The NeoBuds Pro bi-amping with DSP-based active crossover technology precisely splits the Bluetooth electrical signal into high and low frequencies before reaching the amplifiers in the earbuds. Within the earbuds, there are two separate amplifiers that create sound: the dynamic driver and the Knowles balanced armature. The dynamic driver provides the bass using magnetic techn

Keys…Wallet…Phone…Plush Toy? With the new partnership between plush toy manufacturer GUND and Bluetooth tracking device maker Chipolo , plush toys can now be added to the list of track-able essentials. This marriage between plush toys and Bluetooth tracking devices is designed for parents whose peace and happiness goes hand in hand with a satisfied child. The Chipolo Bluetooth tracker, a small disk roughly the size of a dollar coin, attaches to the plush toy at the neck, and connects to a mobile app. When the toy is misplaced, parents can simply open the mobile app and play a sound on the Bluetooth tracker. Moreover, through the mobile app, parents receive an out-of-range notification when the Bluetooth connection from the tracker is lost. This feature is ideal for travel, and for any child who likes to take their plush toy with them on the go. The Chipolo Bluetooth tracker ensures that the child’s plush toy will never again be forgotten and left behind.      For a

It’s probably not hyperbole to state that Fall 2021 will be the most unpredictable back-to-school season retailers have ever faced. As we lurch back to normal from a year of almost exclusive remote learning, most parents (and kids) are expecting to see students return to the classroom. But there is still some understandable hesitation to a full return, and how that will play out in terms of retail trends remains in question. Will families look for traditional back-to-school tech, or plan for more homeschooling? A recent survey of parents in Massachusetts, for example, found that almost 70 percent want their children to go back to in-person scho oling this fall — while about 28 percent still want a hybrid or fully remote learning option. Either way, analysts and tech companies say some of the technologies adopted during the pandemic are here to stay. “Of course, the laptop is the centerpiece of coursework,” notes Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research. So he believes that dem

  The term ‘retail experience’ is often centered in the physical realm — namely, as the combination of in-store phenomena and shopping ‘Easter eggs’ that make the experience exciting. What this approach leaves out is the more internal, organic experience laid out by the data driving every interaction a customer has with a brand or retailer. As our world began to require digital interactions — with each other as well as with companies — at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, that latter version of “experience” has become much more important, as retailers try to bring their digital offerings into line with the physical.  We’ve seen a number of them leave out a critical piece of the puzzle, however. This article will examine that missing piece. First, we’ll look at the fragmented approach historically taken on the road to ‘customer experience,’ what this model leaves out, and a few examples. Then we’ll will dive into the shifting mindset in corporate leadership, addressing n

  Summer has arrived. As temperatures rise, consumers will search for the best ways to beat the heat, be it at home or on the go. Multiple factors are contributing to the growth in particular categories of cooling devices, including the demand for energy-efficient technology, the effects of global warming/climate change, and the popularity of portable devices. It is reported that the personal cooling device market is expected to experience a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.16 percent, during the forecast period of 2021 to 2026. Energy efficiency and portability make these cooling devices, particularly handheld models, most attractive. The rise of temperatures created by global warming also is a contributing factor to the appeal of personal cooling devices. This past May, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a #KeepCool campaign to educate the population on the dangers of heat and “adapt for the increased temperatures in the future.” The organizat

Beko U.S., a subsidiary of Europe’s leading home appliance brand stands by their refrigerators so much that they are willing to put their money where their mouth is. The Fresh Produce Promise, launching on May 27, promises customers that their fruits and vegetables will remain fresh for 30 days with Beko’s EverFresh+ technology or their money back. The global home appliance manufacturer says they will work with dealers to ensure customers’ full satisfaction with their refrigerator purchases. In order to qualify for a refund or store credit, customers must keep their refrigerators for the full 30-day freshness cycle and fulfill a few simple requirements detailed on Beko’s dealer-specific webpage. The Fresh P roduce Promise applies to all ten Beko refrigerator models that include the advanced technology, including French door, side-by-side, top-freezer and bottom-freezer models. Because of their safe and efficient pandemic plan, Beko is one of the few appliance manufacturers with signifi

1. What has been happening in the last couple of months in your business sector? Every spring/summer marks the new model year for TVs.  This year’s new TV models have more significant video display technology upgrades and enhancements that exploit the abilities of the new 4K HDR TV Video System.  Brighter OLED TVs not only deliver brighter images and better HDR and improved DCI P3 with good color saturation and full color volume, but it also gives the users another technical advantage that has not been discussed yet and that’s the much larger dynamic tonal range.  The larger dynamic tonal range that is only possible with LG’s G1 Gallery Series and Sony’s A90J Master Series OLED TVs gives the images more detail and the perception is a sharper and more real to life detailed picture. Larger screen sizes with these new high-performance OLED TVs are now available up to 83”, ranging from 55”, 65”, 77” and now the 83” class. Samsung’s new Neo series includes a beautiful range of 4K and 8K Min

  Voting for  Dealerscope’s inaugural Audience Awards  is now open! For the 2021 Dealerscope Audience Awards, we’re asking YOU, our avid readers, to help us choose which products truly stand out in the consumer tech industry. The products up for recognition this year span a wide range of categories from audio, to smart home, to accessories, and more. All you have to do is go through the list and select the products you feel are innovative, practical, and worthy of a Dealerscope Audience Award. You may choose as many or as little as you’d like. Please make sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of the form so you don’t miss any. Once you’re finished, click “submit” to ensure your vote is counted. Voting closes on Friday, July 23. Vote Now

Despite the lack of any hard evidence to back up his claims of TikTok as a “national security threat,” Donald Trump had seemingly set his sights on taking down the wildly popular looping video social media network as one of his last orders of business as president. Luckily, the former president struck a deal that kept the app alive (and somewhat under U.S. control), enabling brands to still reap the benefits that TikTok has to offer. Perhaps the most eye-opening statistic from Adweek revealed that 49 percent of TikTok users have made a purchase after seeing a product appear on the platform. Comparatively, the survey found that 41 percent of adults reported purchasing something after seeing it on Facebook. That eight percent upper hand doesn’t seem like a big deal on its own, but when you consider just how much longer Facebook has been around compared to TikTok, which was founded in 2016, it is impressive. What’s even more interesting about the purchasing power TikTok holds is that the

Citing continued international travel restrictions and rising COVID-19 variants across the globe, the organizers of CE China 2021, which was scheduled to be held from September 16th to September 18th, announced that the show has been canceled. Held at the Guangzhou Poly World Trade Center in Guangzhou, China, the annual event connects international electronics and appliance manufacturers with some of the biggest retailers across Asia, including Suning and Tmall/Alibaba. This year’s event was meant to be a return to the traditional company booth and show floor format, with a special German manufacturer pavilion and brands such as Changhong, Cuori, Galanz, Konka, Vatti, and Whirlpool signed on as exhibitors. As a result of the pandemic, last year‘s stripped-down version of the show, dubbed the CE Summit, featured a mix of workshops,  speakers, and exhibitors showcasing new products on a stage before an audience of mask-wearing, socially-distanced attendees.  “Of course, this was a tough

After a devastating year that saw the Olympic games thrown off of their quadrennial cycle due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is a major relief to see the global community once again gather under the banner of sports. Set to kick off on July 23, the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games is bound to be one of the most-watched sporting events to date. In anticipation of this highly touted event, Comcast Xfinity this week announced plans to optimize viewer accessibility to Olympic content across its three major platforms: Xfinity X1 (TV), Xfinity Flex (Internet), and Xfinity Stream (mobile app). In the American market, NBC has held exclusive broadcasting rights to the Summer games since 1988, and the Winter games since 2002. In 2011, Comcast purchased NBC’s parent company NBCUniversal which has a monopoly over Olympic content via the NBC network, Telemundo, the Olympic Channel, and the streaming service Peacock.  This relationship gives Xfinity customers unparalleled access to NBCUniversal’s 7,000

  Sustainability is such a buzzword these days that it can seem meaningless, especially when big tech and retail talk pledges to reduce emissions, invest in eco-technologies, or pay for carbon offsets. But brush off those self-satisfied marketing messages and seemingly hyped-up initiatives as just more “greenwashing” would be a mistake, especially for the retail sector. On a straight-up, save-the-Earth level, it’s essential: In January, research by the Boston Consulting Group and the World Economic Forum found that eight supply chains, including electronics, freight, and automotive, accounted for more than half of all global emissions . That’s why big retail from Amazon to Best Buy to Walmart, along with appliance and consumer electronics manufacturers, are doubling down and accelerating their sustainability initiatives. Another motivator, of course, is the Paris Climate Agreement, which the United States recently rejoined, and its goals of reducing global emissions in

Voting for Dealerscope’s inaugural Audience Awards is now open! For the 2021 Dealerscope Audience Awards, we’re asking YOU, our avid readers, to help us choose which products truly stand out in the consumer tech industry. The products up for recognition this year span a wide range of categories from audio, to smart home, to accessories, and more. All you have to do is go through the list and select the products you feel are innovative, practical, and worthy of a Dealerscope Audience Award. You may choose as many or as little as you’d like. Please make sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of the form so you don’t miss any. Once you’re finished, click “submit” to ensure your vote is counted. Get detailed info:  Vote Now in Dealerscope’s Audience Awards Important Link:  Appliance Distributors

This pandemic has obviously done a ton of damage to retailers the world over, but one of the few silver linings might wind up being the fast tracking of Augmented and Virtual Reality as a retail model. Done correctly, it’s not designed to replace the in- store retail experience, but rather enhance it. More on that further down. A key element of this pandemic recovery period, such as it is, as well as the someday-virus-free future, is that consumers will return to stores, malls, and various other retail locations after the crisis passes. However, after spending so much time shopping online, many of them will have developed new habits. Smart retailers will look for creative ways to play to that fact – to deliver virtual experiences and to interact with shoppers online in new and unique ways. Our guess is that we’ll be seeing many retail segments begin to invest in virtual experiences such as recreating in-store demonstrations online, or perhaps virtual salespeople who can e

Extended warranty provider Allstate Protection Plans has just announced the availability of Allstate Protection Plans Express, designed to enable both brick-and-mortar and ecommerce consumer technology retailers of any size streamlined access to Allstate protection programs — and in turn, offering them the ability to provide their customers access to a warranty product with both strong brand equity and a 90-year history to back it up, Allstate Protection Plans CEO Karl Wiley told Dealerscope in a pre-launch interview. The Allstate Protection Plans Express applies across the board to consumer electronics, major appliances and furniture categories, and is powered by Falcon API software, which enables retailers to integrate plans into each product offering in turnkey fashion. Wiley further elaborated on the program’s particulars to Dealerscope , and about the strategy behind making it widely available to all sizes of consumer technology retailers. Dealerscope:

  Miami’s bustling design district, known for its sleek architecture, luxury boutiques and celebrity-chef restaurants will be receiving a new tenant in 2022.   On June 23,  BSH Home Appliances  announced it would be opening an Experience and Design Center in Miami to showcase its newest product innovations. BSH’s Experience and Design Centers give consumers the opportunity to interact with home appliances from Bosch, Thermador and Gaggenau, and to see their products in action during live cooking demonstrations.    The Miami Experience and Design Center will be located in an 8,000 square foot showcase on the top floor of the Design 41 building within Miami’s design district. Thomas Staebler, Head of Experience and Design Centers, North America, for BSH Home Appliances said, “By strategically locating our new space within Miami’s bu stling Design District, we will be where consumers, designers, builders and trade professionals alike come for design inspiration and to see the latest in in