The CES Retail Ripoff

The biggest story at this week's annual Consumer Electronics Show extravaganza is the sales fraud that is being perpetrated by big-box retailers gobbling up the marketing hype from major vendors and passing it off as gospel to unsuspecting consumers and businesses.

STEVEN BURKE Can be reached at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at sburke@cmp.com.

The reason vendors love these big-box retailers is they sell technology just like they sell TVs, refrigerators or the newest CD from the latest "American Idol"—namely, as the fountain of youth to everyone from technology neophytes to supposedly tech-savvy businesses. These retailers promote these products as the secret to being rich, thin and forever young. And within the Willy-Wonka-like technology factory is a slew of mostly young, low-paid salespeople passing themselves off as technology experts. What's so amazing is how many customers are led like lambs to the slaughter by these untrained children. When reality finally creeps into the picture in the form of a product or solution that doesn't work, it's left to the independent digital home integrator channel to pick up the pieces. That digital home integrator channel is made up of tens of thousands of well-respected home theater installers, audio experts and solution providers of all stripes who see the huge opportunity here and are fighting the retailer ragtime by wading through the technology muck to find the best values for each and every customer. If you want to get an idea of just how big a gap there is between the marketing hype and the technology reality, check out a list of the most overhyped technologies and products that is featured in this issue of CRN (p. 26). That list was put together by Digitainment, a San Marcos, Calif., home theater provider that prides itself on delivering the best value for cost-conscious customers. Companies such as Digitainment are the heart and soul of this business.

If the big-brand vendors put half as much time, money and effort working with the Digitainments of the world, there would be a lot more satisfied customers, fewer returns and ultimately billions of dollars in increased consumer electronics sales. It's time for vendors to take the channel high road: Boost funding for digital home integrators and slash funding for the big-box retailers.

Are you fighting the retailer ragtime?
Contact Steven Burke at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at sburke@cmp.com.