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THE ERT INTERVIEW STUART TICKLE


AWE’s Performance Cinema – an ideal room conversion Left and below: AWE’s Reference Cinema


28


Q: What is developing in smart home retailing and why is this such an important sector? Stuart Tickle:


It’s an opportunity


to add value. Whatever products you’re selling, whatever the next big thing is, there’s commoditisation that comes with any fast growth market. With companies like Apple and Amazon, they are bringing connected technology to the masses at low prices. But the key thing is, if retailers just try and resell that stuff, you can’t make margin and add sufficient value in something that consumers can buy online because there are usually cheaper alternatives.


The thing we speak on and train people on – our main message – is that connectivity is happening whether retailers come along for the ride or not. Nowadays, all retailers accept that it’s happening whereas five years ago they didn’t. It can seem like a scary prospect but now many already see the changes happening. Amazon, for example, sells solely online, but now they can install products as well, and we’re telling retailers that this is one of the skills


they should have. Be adaptable. They’ll soon be surpassed by Amazon unless they fully understand the technology and give themselves the chance to do it better.


Q: How can this be done? ST: Retailers should learn how to not be a ‘cookie cutter solution’; they have to have some form of personalised approach towards the customer. Independent retailers became a thing because they could offer what consumers couldn’t get elsewhere; they offered trusted knowledge and they are known within their communities. The indie retailer now needs to add something on top of that. For example, networked products need installing properly. If you’re giving someone your network password at home, the security involved in this is paramount. So do consumers want to go to the trusted people in their community or rely on the randomly selected installer that turns up on the day of delivery. As soon as you’re crossing somebody’s threshold you’re in their home and you’re engaging and you can offer them more – that personalised


approach – but if you don’t have the knowledge in the connected products you’re selling, why on earth would the customer pay more for a claimed better service if you’re not actually offering a better service? If it’s just a boxed product they are after, they’ll go to the cheapest place; they will think it’s silly to pay more if they’re not getting more. But, most people will pay for a better, more enhanced service. AWE provides the knowledge, the training, support and confidence in order to be able to do that.


Q: How can you help? ST: The AWE show apartment is a significant resource and is available by appointment for retailers to use, both for their own staff to come and see what is possible first-hand, as well as for specific customer demos. Wrapped up under our AWE Smart Home Academy are our specialised training courses, including the Foundation Workshop, Foundation in Smart Home Control with URC, Designing an Immersive Audio Home Cinema and HDMI & 4K Video Distribution… to name just


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