Holiday Retail Sales Could Be Worse

Housing starts might be beaten down, but gas prices are falling, interest rates should remain level, inflation is moderate and the hurricane season has been uneventful. All the factors that could have lead to a dismal holiday buying season seem to be in check.

While the numbers aren't phenomenal, the National Retail Federation today forecasted a five percent growth in retail sales, or $457.4 billion, this holiday season, compared with six percent, or $435.6 billion, last year. Not bad considering holiday retail spending " which accounts for about 20 percent of annual retail sales - increased an average of 4.6 percent over the last 10 years. The Consumer Electronics Association expects about $140 billion to be spent on electronics gear by the time the holiday hangover fades.

Unless you can secure an inside shipment of T.M.X. Elmos, the numbers shouldn't mean a helluva lot to home integrators, other than to prove the majority of consumers haven't closed their wallets. Home integrators should be above the numbers and use the Season of Giving to turn customers onto new and/or useful products and to provide them with the integration services needed to make those products work properly, especially if they should be part of a home network or require calibration or complicated setups. To show their appreciation to good clients or to reconnect with less active ones, many integrators offer special holiday prices for certain services. However you slice it, it's a lot better than fruit cake.

Apple iPods and iTV devices, flat-panel televisions and gaming units like Microsoft's XBox 360 are few holiday product categories that can require integration services.

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With more than 10 million units sold and several more million expected to fly off shelves during the holidays, chances are your clients already have at least one iPod. There's not a major home system or AV manufacturer that doesn't have some type of docking station or other product that integrates an iPod to a connected entertainment center or distributed audio network. Apple also recently introduced its iTV media streaming device, promising it will be coming down the chimney by the holidays. Integration is key. Add-on sales could include enhanced wireless network devices and additional storage products.

Flat Panel Televisions ($15 billion in LCD, plasma and rear projection sets expected to ship by the New Year) will continue to be one of the hottest-selling retail products, especially as more consumers scramble for a taste of high-definition programming. The majority of flat panels will be sold through retail. But by the time your client has sorted through all the cables, only to discover half the correct ones are missing, he'll be spiking the eggnog and happily reaching for the phone to call his trusted integrator, who was so kind to offer advance notice on "specially priced" holiday calibration, setup and mounting services.

We can't help but laugh that it took Steve Jobs and his iTV to bring attention to "media extenders," even though they've been around for years. You didn't expect Microsoft to generate the hype, did you? Now that the word is out, it might be a good time to remind your client that the XBox 360 Santa brought the kids can actually stream media files from that new PC to the new flat panel. Sometimes it takes an integrator to brighten up the holidays.