THE DAILY SCOPE, 4/4/2022: The grocery and CPG retail business is often a harbinger of things to come – maybe it’s just because everyone buys food, even non-TV households – so it’s a good place to gauge the mood of consumers. After a pandemic that started with shortages of household goods like toilet paper and cleaning supplies, the current lineup of basics isn’t exactly flying off the shelves. The Wall St. Journal reports that consumers are returning to store brands and buying smaller quantities of everything from laundry detergent to cereal. With shortages during the pandemic, many retailers upped their production on in-store brands, so that move dovetails nicely with the need for more affordable products.
There is no indication that this trend is particularly rampant in the CE retail sector, but the category most likely to be enticing for consumers looking to save money could be accessories like cables, power solutions, and power adapters. This could be a good thing. After all, previously pricey, feature-filled true wireless earbuds are finally coming down in price, which may be just in time for price-conscious consumers. And in another WSJ story, we find out that many home office warriors are opting for landlines and Ethernet to avoid increasing Wi-Fi connectivity issues that come with all those IoT devices.
In pricey virtual goods land, Samsung and Nifty Gateway last week announced a partnership whereby Nifty Gateway will serve as a vendor for NFT art on new Samsung TVs. Earlier this year at CES, Samsung unveiled plans to implement NFT commerce and management functionality on its Smart Hub streaming service, but the electronics giant last week elaborated n how the TVs might automatically adjust contrast, color, and other display settings for optimal display of NFT art. Given that currently, some NFT art is going for as much as $91.8 million a pop, the very least we can expect of a cutting-edge TV is that it also be smart and cultivated enough to know how to show said art.
WHAT WE’RE READING…
As Inflation Spreads, Rising Prices Fuel Charges of Corporate Greed
Etsy Sellers Will Go on Strike in April and Want Customers to Boycott
Walmart Wants to Put More Muscle Into Its Ad Platform
Toymaker Mattel Expands Mexican Plant Nearshoring Push
How Two Best Friends Beat Amazon
E-Girls Are Making Up to $550,000 to Play Video Games With Lonely Men
Google Releases Retail Search Tool to Improve Shopper Discovery
Bang & Olufsen Names Caroline Wozniacki Newest Brand Ambassador
