Game Changer! That was the title of this years Euronics Conference which was held last month in Windsor. A bit of a journey for a Yorkshireman but well worth the effort as I have never attended such a positive event.
For those yet to experience what Euronics is all about I’ll quickly explain – it’s a buying and marketing group that Hebert Todd’s are part of meaning that we are able to compete on price, every day, with any national competitor, such is the buying power of our nearly 500 strong retailer base. So that means, as a customer, you get not only the kind of great service only a local company can provide but also at the best price in the current market, win win.
Anyway, back to Windsor and the conference centred around two themes, the changing face of retail and servicing. If I take servicing first it was a bit alarming to hear that the average age of a white goods (think washers / dryers and dishwashers) engineer is 58 years old, so, sadly we are only a few years off many of these guys retiring and the, already low, number of engineers being too small to geographically cover the whole of the UK effectively and with that service levels dropping off the map. The answer? As a group we are working with the government to launch a new apprentice scheme to offer a recognised qualification for this vital industry. Once it’s up and running Herbert Todd’s will look to train our own engineers to make sure service levels around North Yorkshire are better than ever!
And so to the retail landscape, one which is moving positively back towards independent businesses like ours and also away from distance selling internet retailers. Euronics members are growing their market share even against the backdrop of a challenging economic landscape and a new government who, for some reason, are talking us down not up. The reason for this is simply that we are here to support our local community, we understand the needs of our customers and we care about what we do. The alternative is to shop online with a faceless entity whose primary aim is to please their shareholders; their only real selling point being to offer cheap prices, well, we are matching those prices and we are back in the driving seat.
Finally the really exciting “game changing” news was that we are launching, in January, a suite of own brand products that will represent exceptional value for money – more details to follow after Christmas!
We really hope to see some of you instore soon where you can get a great demonstration, free coffee, great prices and the best service and if you can’t make it in support your local retailer by using their website instead of the faceless nationals. We’re here to help, now and in the future.
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