Better be ready for the fourth-quarter ride

 By Stephen Paczkowski, Expert Warehouse

Hard to believe we’re just a couple of weeks out from the fourth quarter. Are you ready for the high-speed sleigh ride that is the holiday selling season?

Black Friday is Nov. 24 and as always, Expert Warehouse (EW) will have the best pricing and endeavor on your behalf to secure every available promotion we can allocate from our vendor partners.

As seems to be the trend, the sales start earlier and earlier each year. Our advice is to focus on a feature set, rather than a specific model, that you believe sells best for your customer base. Ninety-eight percent of TVs are now 4K and smart, so think size vs. brand vs. display technology (LED/OLED/QLED/QNED/Mini LED), and odds are one of the models will be promotional once you narrow it down. Don’t necessarily limit your customers to a model, but a feature set and size. Custom installers watch the roadmaps for Black Friday launch times to make a little extra margin whenever possible.

Related: AVB Boosts Funding Match for Q4/Q1 Bundles

On everyone’s list this year is LG’s G3 and M3 series. The G3 series of course is the Gallery EVO series, which mounts flush to the wall, has a five-year warranty and is the brightest OLED ever. The M series is the Zero Connect box version, which is the world’s first 4K via 120HZ wireless transmission from up to 30 feet away, including game systems, smart devices and more, that attach directly to the transmitter.  Both transmitter and TV require power, of course.

While hectic and filled with long hours and lots of bookkeeping, the holidays are also a time to reflect on the past year and what is most important: family and friends.

Nothing is more satisfying than ending a successful year with your closest and dearest people around you. Whether wishing for a white Christmas in front of a Samsung Frame TV or LG Gallery EVO OLED with a winter snow mountain scene serenely lighting up your living room, or a raucous outdoor gathering in front of a Samsung outdoor Terrace TV with some tunes or karaoke, consumer electronics just makes our lives better. 

And speaking of CE, here are some fun facts: Spending on consumer tech increased 20% worldwide from 2020 to 2022, per Shopify. Even better: Oberlo projects that while 2023 will be a down year, U.S. spending on CE should be up by roughly 20%. What’s more, between the summer’s record win for UPS workers, which averted a strike, and the tentative deal at West Coast seaports that will take months to ratify, product should be flowing without any transportation delays, which is music to everyone’s ears. This bodes well for making up any ground lost to inflation, freight and supply chain issues or other recent bumps in the road.

 Here’s hoping the Golden Quarter is terrific for you and yours. Happy selling!

Stephen Paczkowski is a product manager at Expert Warehouse, the consumer tech distribution arm of AVB BrandSource. Write him at steve.paczkowski@expert-warehouse.com.

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