PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
PC retailers could be in for a blow in the next few years, as according to researchers, supermarkets will see sales of non-food products rocket 40 per cent to £16.2 billion.
A study by retail analysts IGD projects that by 2014, 10p of every £1 spent in a supermarket will not be on food. Currently worth £11.6bn, non-food sales within supermarkets (a large portion of which is made up of PCs and technology products) have strongly outperformed the non-food retail market as a whole this year.
"Food and grocery retailers have been steadily investing in non-food, both in-store and online and will increasingly reap the rewards, prospering in a value-conscious and convenience-driven marketplace," said Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive of IGD.
While this might be good news for the likes of Tesco and Asda, which have been selling computers, peripherals, games and software for some time now, specialist PC retailers are unlikely to be celebrating.
In PCR’s annual survey, 35 per cent of respondents named supermarkets as the biggest problem facing the channel at the moment. However, ITACS chairman Matthew Woolley recently said that independent computer retailers “should not fear the supermarkets too much” because they have the skill to perform services and repairs – a product area that 54 per cent of readers surveyed said was the biggest money maker this year.
