Trade Talk
Trade Talk ElectronicPartner Follows Growth Path Branded retailers head quality offensive Friedrich Sobol, member of the management board of ElectronicPartner, explains how the buying group has consolidated its 2014 success across Europe. We are happy to have further expanded our business success of 2014 in this changing environment. Aggregate central sales of the buying group are EUR 2.007 billion and 6.3 per cent higher than in 2013. What are your key new partnerships and strategies? We further developed our cooperation with Sparhandy GmbH to strengthen our own position in the growing mobile telephony market - this led us to increase our share in Sparhandy from formerly 30 per cent to 50.1 percent. At the core of our strategic development is our Quality Campaign. The outer appearance of our branded retailers will be strengthened significantly again this year. Customers will know exactly what they can expect from a highcalibre and up-to-date specialist retailers. How are you catering for the growing complexity of products in the market when it comes to staff training and information? Training is an essential element of the Quality Campaign. Only sales staff who are knowledgeable about the latest developments can give customers competent advice and Friedrich Sobol Member of the management board of ElectronicPartner secure lasting customer loyalty. That’s why we have provided local training courses for more than 250 members this year. The focus of this campaign is to present smart solutions to customers at Point of Sale. Why is it so important to be a close partner of IFA? As the world’s leading trade fair for consumer electronics, IFA Berlin is the place to be. One great advantage is that it takes place here in Germany. We offer our members the opportunity to prepare for the coming year on their own doorstep by organising various travel packages that give our members the best possible support during their stay in Berlin. GOT THE IFA BUG Dragan Petric is Mobile Devices Expert Group Manager at EISA and Executive Editor at Bug magazine, the most influential and most circulated consumer electronics magazine in Croatia. Bug magazine was established in 1992 and has a long tradition of covering IFA extensively in its print edition and also live on its web-page www. bug.hr. We asked Dragan what he sees as being the biggest drawcard this year at the show. I'll be focusing mostly on mobile device and startup innovations, two branches of the consumer electronics market that are involved in big trend known as the Internet of Things. Expect to see huge steps forward in terms of smartwatches among the major players in the global CE market. Startups, on the other hand, bring a bunch of new healthcare and fitness products and other small gadgets, which will be equipped with all sort of sensors and connected to the Internet or other devices. These will generate a lot of buzz in terms of the Internet of Things. What are your key reasons for coming to IFA? It's the most important tech event in Europe and it perfectly opens a new buying season right after everybody THE CRITICAL EYE – AND COMMENTS OF THE MEDIA AT IFA Each day in IFA International, we will be bringing you feedback from media at the show, helping buyers and manufacturers get a better understanding of how they work at IFA. Dragan Petric Mobile Devices Expert Group Manager at EISA & Executive Editor at Bug magazine is back from summer vacation. I enjoy technology, I love being a tech reporter, so IFA is some sort of extension to my own summer vacation - though I'm actually working pretty hard while in Berlin. The show always brings a lot of world premieres of the products that will be determining the market trends in upcoming months. What tips or advice would you give to international journalists visiting for the first time? Don't go to your room when IFA is closed in the evening; go explore Berlin! For me, this is the most exciting and most beautiful European capital. 26
HALL PLAN SHUTTLES Hall 23- Stand 102 Hall 21 - Stand 102 www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Friday 4 th September 2015 27
