Wal-Mart is Largest Retailer in the World, Followed by Amazon – If you take CE e-tailers into account, Amazon is No. 1, but that stronghold may be lessening. Wal-Mart remains the largest all around.
Apple Redesigns Its Web Site – The ‘Store’ tab has been eliminated in favor of blue ‘Buy’ buttons which offer direct purchase links for each product. The goal was to deliver one simple distination for consumers, and several of the features on the site have been improved with easier shopping in mind.
Be Your Own Vinyl Guru – Vinyl and turntables have suddenly become hot again after all these years. But there’s little help out there on setting them up properly. Here’s a useful article on getting your new turntable in the best possible shape for playing records.
Consumers Are Slow to Use Apple Pay – Apple may have a problem getting their Apple Pay to ring the cash register for themselves. It enables those with an iPhone 6 and Apple Watch to have a contactless debit card, but is having trouble convincing consumers that the smart technology is worth the time and effort. It has only two million regular users so far. The biggest challenge is convincing people they should be excited to use their phones instead of their wallets. People find the attraction of mobile technology is the new level of freedom it brings, and Apple has take a narrow view of limiting mobiles to being just another way of pay at the cash register. The future lies with companies actually changing our day-to-day lives, such as PowaTag, which turns any medium into a virtual shop and allows people to buy products anywhere in the world with any digital device. That’s the future of mobile.
Wireless Charging Surges – Juniper Research forecasts that almost 40% of U.S. households and 20% of European households will adopt wireless charging by 2020. More mobile devices are implementing wireless charging including smartphones, tablets, wearables and soon laptops. Charging stations are being rolled out. An analyst says “The ability to pinpoint device location thru data excahnge enables all kinds of location-based activation functions around the home, car and leisure industry.”
Stereo Headphone Sales – Despite concerns that consumers have become saturated with headphones and the trend in lifestyle-focused premium headphones has run its course, the market continues to thrive. Sales have grown 18%, faster than they did last year. There is a 13% growth in smartphone sales but consumers are buying fewer tablets.