Image: CES
January 11, 2016
Target reviews CES 2016
While reviews of CES 2016 were published last week by the score, a surprise one came from Target’s top brass, who all descended on Las Vegas “to share and discover more about the future of technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, robotics and more.”
On the company’s corporate blog, The Bullseye View, Target’s CEO, Brian Cornell, raved about Samsung’s innovation across appliances, refrigerators, watches, speakers, phones, TVs and air vents. He said, “They will be introducing some really terrific products in the near future and I look forward to seeing the consumer response to these new technologies.”
Speaking of wearables such as smart watches and fitness trackers, Jeff Jones, chief marketing officer, said, “A tidal wave of newness is coming to fitness technology and many companies are on the cusp of changing the game.”
Overall, ten executives, including several buyers, touted a wide range of tech wonders they saw at the show. These also included developments around IoT, robotics, high-depth TVs, VR headsets, health and wellness products with personal diagnostics, and 3D-printed headphones.
“It’s amazing to see the continued progression every year at CES; TVs get clearer, appliances get smarter, wearables get hipper and cars come to life,” said Kristi Argyilan, SVP Media & Guest Engagement.
Target’s coverage comes as CES, formerly the Consumer Electronics Show, has evolved from a standard trade show for retail buyers of consumer electronics and gadget launches to more of a branding show. Small and larger retailers in the automotive, biotech, health, fitness, telecomm and mobile providers space now sit alongside Sony and the other electronics giants hawking their innovations.
Wrote Amy Messenger on the Ogilvy & Mather’s blog: “CES has become the debutante ball for any company wanting to unveil its inner technological greatness.”
Indeed, many of the drones, robots and virtual reality headsets getting press aren’t expected to become household items. Wrote Chris Preimesberger for eweek.com, “If you think for one minute that CES 2016 isn’t about razzle-dazzle ahead of everything else, then you are a misguided person.”
Discussion Questions
Is the CES show becoming more or less important for retailers? What do you think motivated Target’s review of CES?
Poll
BrainTrust
Carol Spieckerman
President, Spieckerman Retail
Karen S. Herman
CEO and Disruptive Retail Specialist, Gustie Creative LLC
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It’s important for retailers to know what’s coming next, and CES is an ideal forum for gathering that information. Target’s reviews show consumers that the retail giant is staying current on all things electronic. It’s all part of Target’s effort to prove its relevance to consumers.
CES is still important for merchants, but as in most other categories, the size of the trade audience has decreased with retail consolidation. These days I suspect the journalists far outnumber the buyers, so the focus is naturally shifted toward brand power.
The show has taken on a futurist aura that combines a splash of sci-fi with a dash of utopianism. The concepts aren’t all destined to find markets — indeed some are downright silly — but every year there are a handful with the capacity to change the way people live.
If the Auto Show can gain considerable attention and credibility for showcasing concept cars that nobody will ever drive, I think it’s OK for CES to show concept products that may never find their way into peoples’ pockets or living rooms.
As for the posts by Target executives — well, you have to justify the T&E somehow. I only hope those senior executives took the time to inspect their own and their competitors’ stores while they were in town.
Nothing terribly insightful from Target that I can see … apart from the clear bias toward Samsung, they seemed to have the same reaction as several hundred thousand other attendees.
Make no mistake, I’d love to have gone. But at what point does the human mind and imagination declare “no mas!”? What tiny percentage of all the gadgets in the little guy’s booths actually make a splash in the marketplace? My guess would be well under 5 percent. Truth is very few innovations are “on the cusp of changing the game.” Innovation is not synonymous with influence. If you want to retire on your yacht with the money made from an invention, spend as much thought on the latter as on the former.
What motivated Target’s review of CES?
The same drive for change and relevance that has motivated the evolution of Target in so many other areas since the changes at the top. There is no way any retailer — even one labeled “cheap chic” — can ignore these changes if they want to attract Millennials. But it goes deeper than that I think. Retail has become about who has the newest, latest and best. There was a time you wouldn’t consider anything but Best Buy for electronics if you were at all “with it.” That phenomenon still prevails in retail — even if Best Buy doesn’t prevail in electronics.
There’s a potentially interesting Catch-22 in all this. I wonder if Amazon will be able to demonstrate the benefits of IoT to consumers as well as physical locations can? If the Target or other retailer personnel really know how to show off the capabilities of IoT appliances, perhaps brick-and-mortar retailers can get an advantage in what would certainly be an ironic twist.
The journey from prototype to product on the shelf has rapidly evolved over the past several years. While some products on display at CES could be years from being a practical product, many are ready to be stocked today. It’s important to have feet on the ground at CES and the sheer magnitude of the show is cause for having your best people there. Target has also established itself as a trendsetter in finding new products and offering versions at value prices. It’s no surprise to me to see a larger investment in the show and I believe this will continue.
Target has had some recent success by uniquely offering the Kids Power Band fitness wearable sponsored by UNICEF. The band not only counts kids’ steps, but enables kids to convert those steps into food packets delivered to needy children. This is the kind of tech product that really fits Target’s core segment of moms and traditional causes of helping children.
The array of forthcoming tech products can be overwhelming, even for tech retailers like Best Buy. This is especially true in IoT products which include technology in everything from refrigerators to bras.
There are more IoT products than can ever fit on store shelves. CES is becoming more important for retailers to review not just the technology, but what products can fit with their overall strategy, core segments and ability to sell them.
Target is trying to show that they are in the technology game. It also fits with the brand image of hip by touting that they are on the cutting edge from a “what’s new” perspective.
From a retailer perspective it’s a treasure hunt. Unless it is an exclusive product launch that they only will see at CES buyers don’t need to visit all the usual suspects, but find one of the smaller upstarts hiding in the periphery of the show. It definitely helps to see the trends. How many copycats do you see of the NEST product line? There are seemingly 20 manufacturers of smart thermostats, smoke detectors, cameras, etc.
The real benefit is getting Target’s senior executives out of the office to see what’s new and different, and hopefully do a market tour while there. There is nothing like spending time out of the executive suite to see what’s really going on.
CES is the latest bright shiny ditch. CES has gone from brown goods to all goods which is why the organization changed its name this year, CEA is now CTA (technology). How many industry CONFABs does a retailer need to attend?
Between PR and IR, Target is right up there with brand Trump for its use of “earned” media. Target has replaced Macy’s as the retailer that wants the world to think it is on the bleeding edge of tech use. Having been a laggard, it makes sense. It has some catching up to do. But look at Macy’s. Target ought to make sure its tactics are pointed to an understandable objective.
I thought this was a bit of the “blind men and the elephant.” Seems they could have huddled and captured a more succinct, relevant and actionable POV to deliver the brand message.
As we like to say, “retail ain’t for sissies!”
Target has a concept store in SF around smart home products called Open House. Perhaps that might be a reason — that and the idea that culture and retail are related.
Smart move by Target to go to the best place to experience new technologies that may be on the horizon. I’ve never attended CES, but from what I hear, it is rich with peeks into the future of consumer products.
Next stop for Target, my guess: The International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago in March, where they can continue their research, but on a much closer horizon.
For consumer electronics retailers, this is a critical event as it showcases most if not all of the upcoming hits. Not only to check out the technology, but it is also a great place to see the customers, the early adopters and where the interest is.
As Target is struggling to get out of the doldrums (data breach, withdrawal from Canada, lack of interesting merchandise) it’s clear their new management team is trying to become relevant — to consumers and to the market. It was a smart move to be seen as a thought-leader in this space!
CES is one of the few trade shows that continues to grow and expand and it has never been more relevant. I was a presenter again this year (Selling CE in the Age of the Mobile Shopper) and noticed a greater diversity of attendees from a category perspective (the fashion contingent was definitely on the rise) and some geographic shifts as well (increased Latam interest/participation).
CES is the one-stop-shop for all things tech and Target is smart to reinforce this focus and awareness beyond its CE buying team.
As the cost of technology drops and it becomes more accessible to middle-class and working families, CES becomes critical to retailers.
CES offers the opportunity to experience the latest cutting edge technologies across all industries and I’d certainly expect the group of Target executives mentioned in Tom’s discussion to attend the show.
Taking key people like Kate Whitcomb, the Growth and Innovation Lead at Target Open House and Ryan Broshar, Managing Director of the Target + Techstars Retail Accelerator, leads me to imagine that some cool new home and tech products may be showing up in-store and online.
Other upscale discount retailers should do the same. Why? Because it is difficult for large retailers to innovate. By attending CES, Target is connecting their innovation leads with the most innovative products on the planet. I can’t imagine that this would not result in a win for Target and its shoppers.