digimag-june-2022.dealerscope.comDealerscope DigiMag June 2022

× Content x DigiMag June 2022 Pulse Voices Nationwide Marketing Group Retail Rumblings Appliances Smart Home Unboxed IFA News E-Commerce Action Cams 5G Tech Mobility International Spotlight: Mexico Music Tech Computers Video Retail On The Run Customer Experience Sales Stat Shot Podcast Subscribe To Our Publications Get In Touch Masthead Menu This issue’s cover story focuses on the proliferation of the new 5G standard and what that means for retailers. Is it time to adjust our expectations on 5G, or does it still carry the potential to change the way we interact with technology and the world around us? Plus, doing business in Mexico, electrifying delivery services, and the best all-in-one computers for creative work. Happy reading! A WORD FROM OUR PUBLISHER A Diverse & Celebratory 5G Summer Summer is my favorite time of year. I love New York City, and what it offers; everyone is outside with their children and pets. The city is full of life. And this summer is going to be incredibly special, since we are starting to get back to normalcy, and there is a reason to have fun and celebrate. Along with getting outside more often, our connected products in our outdoor spaces are important, so that we can remain connected, and ready to rock. It is also so important that we have access to 5G in our cities and spaces to get the most out of our everyday lives. With the rise in popularity of outdoor TVs, Quest 2, our iPads, wireless speakers and earbuds, our smartphones and more, 5G has become ever more important to get the full life experience. I am even starting to have 6G conversations with industry executives, and that will be a great new way of connectivity soon. It’s exciting to finally see the fruits of all our connected products. In line with the theme of 5G and outdoor products, our June issue looks at the best action cams and outdoor appliances. And yes, some of these appliances are connected as well. We also look at the NY Auto Show. I am impressed with the amount of car commercials that show off EVs now. It is amazing. As we are an international company, we also cover in this issue the IFA 2022 Global Press Conference and the exciting news about our global electronics show taking place in Berlin in September 2022. Our Senior Editor, Sam Hitt, also recently visited Mexico City, and provides a look at retailers there, and how business is done with our neighbor to the south. Carrying through with our 5G theme, we also look at the indoors with the article, Broadband Access for Everyone: New Generation of Services Coming,” and our coverage of What the Evolution of Streaming Means for Smart TVs.” Both will be valuable in providing insights into how we get content in the home, and how fast. Finally, with Juneteenth approaching, I am thrilled to announce our upcoming second annual Black Leaders in Consumer Tech” program. This is your chance to recognize great people in your companies and organizations; we want to hear from you. Please nominate your team members at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7SW2XMC The last day to nominate your notable talent is June 3rd. As always, any comments and/or questions, please contact me at tmonteleone@ctlab.media – our great team would love to hear from you! Tony Monteleone, Group Publisher of CT Lab Global Media A WORD FROM OUR EDITOR IN CHIEF E-Mobility: it’s not just for Kids In a sign of just how much times have changed on the automotive front, the recent New York Auto Show (NYAS) in April was chock full of new electric vehicles (EV), electric delivery concepts, utility company exhibitors such as Con Edison, and the first-ever Micro Mobility Expo & Test Track. There were so few traditional gasoline-powered cars that the show seemed more like an e-mobility show than a car show. Even just the presence of these types of products at this event makes people pause and say, ‘Wow, this is really big,’” says Ryan McNamara, vice president of sales at Jetson, which was exhibiting its line of affordable e-scooters that start at $399 and are sold at big-box retailers such as Walmart and Target. Not everyone who comes here has the money to buy a car, but they might have the money to buy something in the e-mobility space.” Jetson had a 66-percent-per-unit market share in the mass retail space for 2021, according to McNamara, but this is the first bonafide car show the company has attended. The company usually goes to CES in January and to Outdoor Retailer in the summer. The places where e-scooter and e-bike companies show up will likely expand, too, since the global market is expected to grow from $40.16 billion this year to $92.19 billion by the end of the decade, according to Fortune Business Insights. We have riders from the age of 12 to over 65 – kids, moms, dads, grandparents – it’s a much wider, mass-appeal audience than people think,” says McNamara. And this period of fast growth came over the past couple of years, when almost no one was traveling to work.” Indeed, Julian Fernau, who runs the e-bike e-tailer Fluidfreeride and is the subject of our Retail on the Run Q&A on page 40, says that his predominant consumer is among thirty-something males. The use cases for e-bikes and e-scooters go beyond what we might typically consider. The fold-up category is hot in both e-scooters and e-bikes. One of the exhibitors at the Micro Mobility Expo was Jupiter Bikes, which makes folding e-bikes exclusively. This is not the first automotive event for the company, however; it regularly attends exotic car shows such as the Festival of Speed, and even RV and pilot shows. Exotic car owners just love the next cool thing, but yacht owners also love this – the carry bags are PVC-coated nylon, which protects the bikes from saltwater air,” says Jupiter Bikes President Rob Daniels. They’re extremely lightweight, so you just pull up to the dock, takethese out, and ride around the island. The Discovery X5 is only 40 pounds, which makes it popular with pilots, since weight is a big issue with flying.” On a final note, this is my last issue as Editor in Chief of Dealerscope. It’s been a lot of fun to cover the CE and appliance retail spaces over the past 14 months and 15 issues of the magazine, not to mention the website and podcasts, but I’m also excited to move on to the next big thing, which you can find out all about by connecting with me on LinkedIn. All that said, I will likely continue as an occasional contributor to Dealerscope, so please stay in touch. Taking the reins starting with the July 2022 issue will be Connected Design Chief Editor Erinn Loucks, who will be serving as Editor in Chief of both Dealerscope and Connected Desig n moving forward. Please join me in congratulating her on this exciting new role. Tom Samiljan CE RETAIL TECHNOLOGY June 2022 CE News AR Advertising Highly Popular with Gen Z | A study conducted by Global Crowd DNA on behalf of Snap Inc. found that an astounding 92 percent of Gen Z consumers – significantly higher than their millennial counterparts – want to utilize augmented reality (AR) when shopping online. The use of AR shopping features is heavily tied to the world of social commerce, where platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok have all stepped in to engage consumers by creating in-app experiential marketplaces. National eCommerce Boom Slows | Over the past year, eCommerce has been a major focal point for retailers nationwide. In Q2 of 2020, the amount of retail happening online surged a whopping four percentage points to an all-time high of 15.7 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau . However, while many expected a new era of eCommerce, figures by Q4 of 2021 have declined back down to 12.9 percent , which puts customer buying habits back on par with pre-pandemic trends. Quantum Batteries Drastically Reduce EV Charging Time | According to research from the Institute for Basic Science, quantum batteries will be able to reduce at-home charging times for electric vehicles from 10 hours to just...