[By Nancy Klosek, DealerScope]
To mark the one-year anniversary of the commercial launch of 3D TVs, Dealerscope asked executives for their reflections on what went right, what went wrong and what the future holds for the technology and other aspects of the TV industry. In this segment, we asked the execs to address an issue that still leaves a bad taste in the mouths of many independent/regional dealers and buying group brass. See the full interviews in July’s Dealerscope and stay tuned to Dealerscope.com for more outtakes.
DEALERSCOPE: Independent and regional dealers claim sales of 3D TVs would have been stronger and consumers would have been better educated if they got a chance to sell the sets either before or at the same time as the big-box stores. Do you agree?
Scott Ramirez, Vice President, Product Marketing & Development, Toshiba: From our perspective, we don’t think that that was a big factor. I think there was a larger cost-up for 3D when it first came out and a lot of consumers just didn’t see it as a value. But as we move forward and as software availability increases, that equation will change and it will become more compelling.
Jim Sanduski, Senior Vice President of Sales, Panasonic: Panasonic launched 3D televisions through Magnolia Home Theater stores. The reality is, we launched inside those sections, which are very well staffed and very well trained and offer many of the characteristics of an independent retailer. At the same time it gave us nationwide coverage with one account. So yes, there’s always that Monday-morning quarterbacking going on; if you launched through a collection of independent retailers, would the launch have been any different? Where I come down on this is, in an ideal world, we might have launched more broadly from the start, but I’m still very proud of how MHT launched the product inside the Best Buy stores.
I do want to stress the importance of the independent retailer, so for 2011, we’ve specifically designed our top two series of 3D televisions: our GT and our VT series, which are very much targeted to be merchandised through independents. We’re giving them lines they’ll really be able to merchandise well.
Michael Fasulo, Executive Vice President, Sales Operations, Sony: I’m a huge fan of the independent. Since taking on this role, we’ve dedicated lots of programs to them. It’s a channel that we need to support. That said, you have to look at what you’re launching. You need all touchpoints with something as complex as 3D, if you’re launching something with great scale.What independents do that we can’t forget is they have a very good one-to-one touchpoint, around demonstration, education and multiple consumer engagements leading to purchases. I don’t think the industry treated it as such from the launch. There’s a significant amount of value in the specialty channel. But when you’re going for mass market, you need also to include other channels. Now, all touchpoints are coming up to speed, and we’re seeing better success. Content is building and there are new applications and retail floor engagement. It’s moving in the right direction, and quickly.
Best Buy is probably the best of the large retailers in terms of explaining features to consumers, but something like 3D, especially last year, needed to be explained to consumers and probably the smaller specialty retailers would have served better in doing that. They don’t represent a huge volume of the industry’s business, though. This year, you’ll see clearly an emphasis on making sure the specialty folks have product they can sell and make money on, and that have the kinds of features like 3D that they can explain.