RetailVision Europe: Retailers Are Bullish On 2008 Outlook

Jon Atherton, group vice president of commercial for Entatech, a major distributor of IT products based in the United Kingdom, said the key to continuing strong sales growth is providing new services for retailers "not just products to help drive their business forward." For example, he pointed to Entatech's Entamedia group which was spun out to help retail customers design and update their web sites. "From a fundamental point of view it's all about profit," he said. "Where do we see the profit next year and the year after. That's how the company has grown to what it is today: to focus on and drive and invest in new areas which is going to make all of us money. That's why most of us come to work. And if you're not making money there is no point in doing it."

Tribeka Ltd., a London software maker which provides retailers with software that automates the electronic distribution of software and DVD content, is also expecting good things in 2008. Mark Furtado, head of DRM for Tribeka, said he sees an exploding on demand DVD market that will power the company in the future. "We feel very good," he said. "The whole on demand market is growing.For us it's looking very good. It's just a matter of us making it available to retailers."

The upbeat market forecast from retailers and distributors was echoed by a keynote kickoff speech titled "Weathering or Riding 2008? The Consumer Landscape As Is" by Pascal Bollon, global marketing director for IT and Office for global market research firm GfK R&T.

Bollon said the current doomsday headlines in Europe echo fears from several years ago that never materialized. "Everybody seems to be fearing the storm coming up," he said.

Bollon, however, said those fears are unfounded. He rolled out a dizzying array of data to "put to rest the gloom and doom" scenario feared by some retail channel executives. Gtk, in fact, predicts that the worldwide electronics market will be up a healthy 8 percent to $679 billion this year. "The market is still extremely dynamic," he said. "The market is there. The demand is there. The pickup is there with consumers in the stores and online."

Bollon said vendors need to specifically focus on the benefits of technology products rather than price points. "Nobody talks anymore about the price points of microwave ovens," he said.