In a week in which disappointing retail numbers have been released, and Circuit City declared Chapter 11, it raises many questions. One is whether Circuit City customers have the interest in products that Circuit City offers.
We took a closer look at buying plans from our forthcoming Consumer Electronics Outlets Profile Report, specifically studing Circuit City’s customers. This is based on a MetaFacts independent survey of 8,016 households.
The top ten consumer electronics products and services consumers plan to buy are reported here.
That HDTV’s are on top of the list may be no surprise. Even households already with multiple televisions have been upgrading to larger, crisper, and newer models. Circuit City has a lot of competition, though, as the products are much more widely available than even two years ago.
Other home entertainment products on the top ten list include digital video recorders, and Digital-to-Analog TV Converter Boxes. As we reported in the MetaFacts Analog TV Converter Profile Report, with the FCC’s mandate getting sooner, these products have increased in popularity. Circuit City customers have a lower ranking for this product than customers of other major retailers, even though converters have been strongly popular among double-dipping households that already have cable or satellite TV and a rich assortment of consumer electronics.
Handheld direction-finding GPS are ranked second on the list.
What remains to be seen is whether Circuit City customer follow through on their plans, or get lured away by the likes of Amazon, Best Buy, or Wal-Mart and Target.
For more information about the forthcoming Consumer Electronics Outlets Profile Report, or about MetaFacts Profile Reports, please request information online or contact MetaFacts on 800-346-1930.
Interesting post.
I’m afraid it won’t matter what Circuit City customers do.
Check out my post “Top 10 Reasons Circuit City Will Go Out of Business” at http://tinyurl.com/6kehc6
By: Daniel Durazo on November 15, 2008
at 8:52 pm
Daniel,
You raise some valid points about where Circuit City’s stumbled in the past. None of the Top Ten things you list could be addressed by a quick fix.
As long as they still have their huge customer base, though, it’s too early to declare them completely dead. That’s the key to watch – the customers.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are coming soon, and you can bet a lot of eyes will be watching those days.
By: metafacts on November 16, 2008
at 4:42 pm
You may be interested in this update: Circuit City sales have dropped by almost 50 percent since the bankruptcy filing. Apparently CC customers have migrated elsewhere.
You can read the story in the RTD here: http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/business/local/article/CIRC23_20081222-212227/160406/
According to the analyst in the article, CC’s days are coming to a close.
By: Daniel Durazo on December 30, 2008
at 1:52 pm