Trade Talk The winners
Trade Talk The winners of the Euronics Trend Awards 2014 (from the left) Joop Oosterveld General Manager D&M Germany, John Olsen Managing Director Euronics International, Marcel Vloemans CEO Euronics The Netherlands, Bernd Gwosdz International Key Account Manager Groupe SEB, Hans Carpels (President Euronics International), Sunny Lee President & CEO Samsung Europe, Stefan Engel Vice President & General Manager Central Region Lenovo, Michikazu Matsushita Managing Director of Panasonic Consumer Marketing Europe, Matthias Ginthum Chief Sales and Marketing Officer and member of the Board of Management of BSH, Paolo Galimberti Vice President Euronics International, Benedict Kober CEO & speaker Euronics Germany. First-ever Euronics Trend Awards Six manufacturers of consumer electronics, home appliances, and PC/multimedia solutions were awarded the first-ever Euronics Trend Award for their trend-setting products at IFA. During their traditional currywurst event held at the Euronics stand, representatives from Samsung, Panasonic, Denon, Lenovo, Bosch/ Siemens, and Groupe SEB officially accepted the firstever Euronics Trend Awards. Euronics International, Europe’s largest retail chain on the consumer electronics market, reached a €17.6 bn turnover in their 2013 financial year. “As the largest international retail chain we are in a very good position to gauge which products have the potential to stand their ground on the consumer electronics and home appliance markets,” says Hans Carpels, President of Euronics International. “The assessment criteria used by our panel of experts not only included general market potential and the product’s specific customer benefit, but also whether the demands of specialist retailers for marketable quality and advice are met.” A panel of international experts, members of the Euronics International Board of Directors, presented the Euronics Trend Award to manufacturers in five different categories. In Consumer Electronics/TV, Samsung and Panasonic were recognised, while in the Audio segment, the prize went to Denon. In the category PC/Multimedia, Lenovo received the honour. For their innovative products in Home Appliances, Major Domestic Appliances, Bosch/Siemens were honoured, and for Small Domestic Appliances, the award went to Groupe SEB. At the moment, the retail chain boasts 27 members in 31 countries and more than 11,000 locations in Europe. In January, the retail group Electra Sweden was added. With a total of over 252 sales locations, Euronics International is clearly expanding its market position in Scandinavia. In April 2014, a member in Greece, Mega Electric joined the ranks at Euronics. The company has a network of 245 sales locations linked by central logistics. The latest addition to the Group came in June and was the dealer network Sulpak in Kazakhstan which has a total of 77 locations. “The consumer electronics market in Europe remains spilt in two. Glancing at the turnover of our members we have to concede a North-South divide for 2013,” explains Hans Carpels, President of Euronics International, at a press conference during IFA. “The price war of recent years has led international manufacturers to meanwhile withdraw from a few local markets. In 2013, this impacted market players in Great Britain and Turkey, among others.” Nevertheless, the retail group sees the past financial year in an overall positive light because in addition to the new 16
Trade Talk members and a stable turnover, their own “added value” and “value added” strategies are taking hold. “Our members are providing the right answers in their demanding market environment. In reaction to the increasingly saturated TV market, Euronics dealers are already positioned in many important and promising fields,” says Carpels. “Growth impulses in 2014 for specialised retailers have primarily come from the TV segment and telecommunication,” reports John Olsen, Managing Director, Euronics International looking at the current financial year. At the IFA at the Euronics stand located in Hall 23A, the retail group highlighted the most important trends and future topics for consumer electronics and home appliances. The range of innovations spanned from Ultra HD with the best possible image resolution currently available, to smart wearables or multi-room solutions, right up to digital health monitoring. “Specialised retail is holding onto its key role. The goal is to understand the innovation of manufacturers right down to the minute detail, to explain it to customers and to highlight the benefits,” says Olsen. At the moment, the Managing Director sees an increased need for consultation in the area of smart home, where the topic is more about comfort, safety and energy savings within one’s own four walls and which will play a key role at the Euronics stand. This year at the IFA, which Euronics calls “the most important meeting point for the industry,” the retail group announced a memorable anniversary: in 2015, EURONICS International will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a Europewide marketing campaign. And the winning products are: The SAMSUNG UE78H8590, the PANASONIC Series 7 and higher, the HEOS Multi-room-System of D&M, the LENOVO Yoga 2 Notebook, BOSCH oven HNG6764s6 and TEFAL OPTIGRILL of Groupe SEB. www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Friday 19 th September 2014 17
