Overview of the Consumer Electronics Retail Industry

The consumer electronics industry is among the key industries that are continually evolving and growing globally. Consumer electronics have become an essential part of our daily routines. This industry has also experienced several new developments at a rapid pace in the recent years. The products that typically fall under the umbrella of consumer electronics include laptops, computers, tablets, MP3, smartphones, and other such devices.

Rapid changes in lifestyle and the growing preference for the use of smart devices are significant factors driving the growth of the global consumer electronics market. Moreover, the governments across emerging economies are increasingly supporting digitalization, leading to the increase in the use of electronic devices among consumers. This is anticipated to bolster the consumer electronics market on a global level. Also, the growing adoption of smart devices and the awareness of the benefits of wireless connectivity will increase the demand for these devices.

The swiftly changing market landscape and the continuous product innovations and changes are forcing consumer electronics retailers to confront the challenges across multiple fronts. Moreover, the ability of current consumer electronics retailers to seize opportunities and respond quickly to the challenges arising from rapid changes will be key to attaining a long-term competitive advantage.

Here are a few trends in the consumer electronics market space:

• Product design outsourcing: Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are increasingly outsourcing the product design and development processes to Electronic Manufacturing Service (EMS) partners. This is because EMS firms offer more design services for sub-assemblies and finished products.
• Robotics and automation: Several consumer electronics firms are integrating robotics and automation in their processes as it helps in improving their plant efficiency and productivity.
• Growing demand for smart TVs:  The rise in the demand for smart TVs can be attributed to the consumers preference for built-in smart functions in personal devices and increasing internet penetration.

The Business Challenge and Journey

The client: A Fortune 500 consumer electronics retail firm

The consumer electronics retail firm wanted to streamline their business practices. The client was also looking at analyzing their current, past, and forecasted expenditures to allow visibility of data based on the commodity. The electronics retailer wanted the entire process of spend management including data extraction, classification, and analysis to be supported by automation and services that can streamline existing procedures, making it a sustainable process. The main objective of the client was to implement a robust spend management solution to reduce material and service costs through informed sourcing strategies based on data.

To identify challenges in the supply chain activities, the spend management experts at SpendEdge carried out extensive research comprising interviews and discussions with prominent stakeholders in the consumer electronics retail industry. The experts also compiled information across a wide array of reliable sources such as trade shows, company presentations, industry forums.

The spend management solutions offered by the experts at SpendEdge helped the electronics retailer to identify opportunities to leverage buying power, improve operational performance, reduce costs and provide better management and oversight of suppliers while improving relationships with external and internal stakeholders. Our solutions also assisted them in developing a robust strategic procurement strategy for the entire organization.

Fundamental questions answered in this spend management study include:

The Results

SpendEdge’s spend management solution offered valuable insights on the organization’s overall spend data. The client was able to improve their spend visibility and also increased their compliance to procurement policies. Moreover, our spend management solutions helped the client to increased their managed spend to ~84%. It also helped them in identifying the right procurement strategies that would reduce the maverick spend. Our spend management solution assisted in the development of a strategic procurement strategy.

To know more about our spend management solution and how it can help companies in the consumer electronics industry

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