PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Christmas is around the corner but I’ll be honest – I’m not feeling jolly. I’m still shaking off the office cold and I’m out of holiday dates.
But look beyond my selfish moaning and you’ll find there are plenty of reasons to cheer from a business perspective this festive season.
GfK’s Carl West told resellers at our first PCR Boot Camp North conference and expo in November that tech retail is “on track for a bigger Christmas” this year, with durables spend up £1.4 billion compared to 2013.
Consumer electronics, appliances and office products are on the up, with products like tablet keyboards, wireless repeaters, networking devices and gaming peripherals set to shine this Christmas. Laptops are enjoying a resurgence and tablets are expected to sell well in the run up to the big day on December 25th. See this Christmas tech products guide for a closer look.
Sourcing enough stock can be a problem in December, so we’ve compiled a handy distributor Christmas opening hours guide here.
January and February are typically tough following the rush of Christmas sales, but there is plenty to look forward to in 2015. I tried out the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset at Boot Camp North and was blown away by it. This will no doubt be great for drawing customers into stores and selling PCs to power it when it (hopefully) launches next year.
Check out what else is on the horizon – including Steam Machines, wider adoption of DDR4, contactless payments and wearable tech – in our latest issue here. There are more 2015 tech market predictions here.
From all of us at PCR we wish you a merry… oh sod it. It still doesn’t feel like Christmas for me yet!
See you next year.
