News


More consumers expect brands to be doing their bit for the planet


Sustainability and energy efficiency are now higher up on consumers’ shopping lists when they’re looking for domestic appliances but less so in consumer electronics, says Nick Simon, client director, market intelligence GfK, speaking at this year’s Retra Conference.


Shoppers expect brands and companies to be environmentally responsible – according to research by analyst GfK, 71 percent of global consumers said it was very important that businesses were doing their bit for the planet. When asked which sectors they thought


could make the biggest difference to limiting damage to the environment – retailers or consumers – 21 percent of shoppers said it was consumers, while 30 percent said it was retailers. Speaking at the Retra Conference, Nick


Simon, client director, market intelligence, GfK, highlighted some of the current consumer buying trends in electricals. “Generally speaking, SDA has done well – since 2020 there has been gradual growth, which is reassuring. There may have been fewer units sold but the overall value of the market has been going up.” On the MDA sector, Mr Simon said: “It hasn’t done that badly – it’s on a break- even level.”


He added: “In MDA, energy efficiency is Editor’s comment Nick Simon


very important in a consumer’s buying decision – less so in consumer electronics.” Mr Simon said that latterly the performance


of the CE market has been disappointing. “Just about every product we measure


in CE is suffering quite a significant shortfall – things like DVD and home audio systems. Smart audio is also fast-declining – a lot of those products were bought before the pandemic, or even before it. “When smart audio products, like Amazon Echo and Google Home, came out there were so many of them bought – people were buying three, four or five per household. That has not been sustainable – everybody’s got one now and there’s no need to buy more – and there’s no built-in obsolescence in them, so they appear to be working. There are no real innovations coming into smart audio to make it worthwhile.”


Mr Simon said the TV market was down, but he singled out turntables as a star performer, with the sector increasing in value, which he said was reassuring.


‘It is still too difficult for people to recycle their electricals’


Scott Butler, executive director of Material Focus, on how retailers can help consumers to recycle their electrical waste.


Electricals are the fastest-growing waste stream in the world, according to Material Focus. The independent, not-for-profit


organisation is on a mission to stop electricals being thrown away, and ensure they’re reused and recycled instead. Speaking to delegates at this year’s Retra


Conference, Scott Butler, executive director of Material Focus, said: “‘It is still too difficult for people to recycle their electricals – and that’s where you guys come in.” He added: “We’ve produced an industry


briefing on retailer take-back, in partnership with OPSS (Office for Product Safety and Standards). That can help you – the retail community – understand what your obligations are and to help communicate them to the public.”


Said Mr Butler: “We’ve funded over 60 projects which will make it easier for 10 million Scott Butler


people in the UK to recycle and reuse their electricals, we’re expanding recycling drop-off points and we’re testing new ways of collecting electricals.” Material Focus is behind the award-


winning Recycle Your Electricals campaign: www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk. “We have 6,000 locations [where you can


recycle electricals] on our postcode locator and we’re getting one million new users to our site,” said Mr Butler. He pointed out that large retailers, like


Argos and Currys, were included on the site, but that very few independent electrical retailers had their information included on it. “That’s a big, missed opportunity – we want you to be on there,” said Mr Butler. “We just want to stop electricals being wasted.” For more information, visit www.materialfocus.org.uk.


News


Welcome to the winter issue of Alert – our final edition of the year. I’ve heard reports that the last few months have been quiet for many retailers – the market is tough – but it’s been a busy time for yours truly, as is reflected in this copy of the magazine. We’ve had the Retra Conference –


this year’s sustainability-themed event was one of the best I’ve attended, with lots of great and thought- provoking content on some very relevant topics, including electric vehicles, energy efficiency, recycling, the future of the high street and the impact of AI (Artificial Intelligence) on the retail sector. With that in mind, I haven’t used


ChatGPT to write this editor’s comment or the report on the conference, which you can read on pages 24-28. If you took time out of your


business to attend the event, I hope you found it useful – we’ve had some great feedback from people who attended. So, what else have I been up to?


Well, I headed up north to Bolton to see the TVD Group’s impressive new Experience Centre, which features state-of-the art tech and includes TV displays by British brand Mitchell & Brown – read the report on pages 18-20 – and I also found time to pop to BSH UK’s headquarters for an exclusive interview with the company’s CEO, Gunjan Srivastava (pages 30-32). It’s his first time talking to Alert– I’d been wanting to chat to him for ages and he finally agreed to speak with me. I’d like to thank him for his time and for covering some hot topics, including direct-to-consumer, sustainability and the brand’s relationship with its retailers.


Sustainability was also the


theme of AMDEA’s 2050 Appliances of the Future Conference, which I attended – you can read my report on pages 22-23.


Also in this issue, we look at how to add some sparkle to your Christmas sales and marketing (page 39). And, on that note, I’d like to wish


you all a prosperous peak season and a merry Christmas. All the best for 2024 – see you on the other side.


Sean Hannam hannamsean95@gmail.com


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