The holiday season tends to be a boon to electronics sales. But this year, brick-and-mortar stores could miss out as shoppers are expected to buy tablets, the most-coveted gadgets of the season, directly from their source.
It’s good news for the likes of Apple with its iPad and Amazon with its Kindle Fire tablet. But it doesn’t bode well for chains like Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Staples, etc., which are counting on the holidays to make up for lackluster sales during the rest of the year, a Wall Street Journal report said.
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has predicted in a study that tablets will be the top-selling device this season, and while a bumper crop of tablets has been released from various companies in the past year, sales are expected to be concentrated among the Kindle Fire and the iPad.
The WSJ cited an IDC report that said in the last quarter, Apple sold 74 percent of all tablets. Amazon comprised 61 percent of e-readers with the Kindle, and Barnes & Noble nabbed 27 percent with the Nook. Though these devices are offered via traditional retailers, the threat is that shoppers can buy them directly from the Amazon or Apple, without having to set foot in a Best Buy, for example.
Though the iPad has dominated the tablet market since the first version debuted in April 2010, Amazon is expected to present significant competition with its $199 7-inch Kindle Fire. The iPad, by comparison, starts at $499.
However, according to the CEA study, consumer electronics spending will reach an all-time high this year. It said spending on electronics will account for a third of a holiday spending, forecasting that consumers will spend an average of $246 on electronics, a 6 percent rise from the 2010 season. But it seems Amazon and Apple will get the lion’s share of these benefits.
That said, Best Buy is already preparing for less traffic in its stores this year. CEO Brain Dunn said last month that the company will hire about half the seasonal employees in 2011 than it took on last season. In fact, a survey from the Hay Group discovered that a quarter of retailers are planning to hire fewer temporary employees for the holidays.