What I refer to are the accessory lenses dubbed “pancakes,” which are prime lenses used on interchangeable lens cameras, such as DSLRs and SLDs.  Pancake lenses are distinguished by their small size (mostly < 1” thick), lying almost flat against your camera’s lens mount, and are becoming increasingly common within today’s market.

For those who shoot with a DSLR or mirrorless SLD and have not explored lens options beyond the basic kit or standard telephoto counterpart, the variety of lenses available can often be overwhelming.  Chances are that we purchased these advanced interchangeable lens cameras for their add-on capabilities, so I recommend considering the addition of a pancake prime lens to your collection as a fun and somewhat inexpensive way to expand your system, as well as your picture possibilities.

What do they do, and why do I want them?

Along with their compact size, pancake lenses are also characterized by their fixed focal length (ie: “prime” lens), which means that they offer no zoom capabilities.  While this may immediately sound extremely limiting, without zoom, pancake lenses can produce very sharp images.  This is also where the fun comes in.  While zoom certainly makes picture-taking easier, by not having this luxury, shooters are forced to rethink composition.  Zooms make us lazy, and sometimes having them actually limits our own creativity.  Taking zoom away encourages shooters to change perspective by physically moving, which allows for subjects to be seen from an altered viewpoint that may have been missed if we simply zoomed closer from the same spot.  You may be surprised at how much your photographic skills grow when you actually take a feature like zoom away.

Pancake primes also tout impressively bright aperture capabilities.  Compared to most kit lenses that come bundled with DSLRs/SLDs (often max f3.5), pancake lenses will allow shooters to expand out to fast apertures such as f2.0.  This allows the camera to employ faster shutter speeds for freezing moving subjects, and also yields that attractive defocused background effect that we all love in portraits (technically called “bokeh”).  When attached to our digital cameras, many of the fixed focal lengths offered by pancake lenses fall within the portrait range (typically 50mm – 100mm equivalent), making them a great way to explore owning a dedicated portrait lens.  Some pancake lenses also boast close focusing distances, which allow them to snap macro-style photos that are made all the more dramatic by having that same defocused background.

Lastly, pancake lenses simply look cool.  Whether shooting with a compact mirrorless SLD or a full-blown DSLR, the tiny size of a pancake lens gives your camera a noticeably smaller footprint, as well as a reduced weight.  This leads to a totally different look and feel for your camera, which in some cases will allow your advanced gear to challenge the convenience of carrying a small point-and-shoot model.

Where do they come from, and what’s available for me?

The history of pancake lenses dates back to more than 100 years ago, when they were developed to provide quality optics in a compact form.  Most pancake lenses are still based around a simple four-element Zeiss Tessar lens design that was first patented in 1902, and companies like Sony still attach this “Tessar” branding to its products today.  The slim lenses gained traction in the 1960’s and 1970’s with Nikon and Pentax’s involvement, and were popular for all the same reasons that they are in our current camera market.

The growing popularity of mirrorless SLDs, which emphasize DSLR performance in a compact form factor, have led to a resurgence of the size-minded pancake lens.  Recently, Olympus unveiled perhaps the smallest and most unique pancake lens on the market with its simple 15mm f8.0 Body Cap lens, an optic that is literally as thin as the plastic retainer that protects a camera’s lens mount when nothing is attached, and also holds an appropriately minuscule price tag of just $49.  Responding to the growing awareness, Canon produced its first-ever pancake prime this year with the debut of a 40mm f2.8 STM lens.  Canon’s design not only ranks as the smallest lens produced by the company to date, but also leverages the new auto focus technology placed within its popular Rebel DSLRs, and is priced below $200.

With the sub-$500 price tags attached to the majority of today’s pancake choices, the fixed lenses are definitely within the reach of most consumers, and can jumpstart the diversification of a lens collection.  The most important thing is to select a focal length that you can be comfortable shooting at (remember no zoom), whether that be a wide 10mm or a portrait-friendly 40mm.  The focal lengths offered by pancake lenses are often contained within the kit lenses that we already own, but again think of what their added light-gathering abilities and shallow depth-of-field will bring to your pictures.

For my cameras, I enjoy using pancake lenses for all of the aforementioned reasons, and especially the challenge of composing shots with only my legs to zoom me in.  However, my collection of prime lenses are not the only pancake in my life.  I also have a lizard who shares his name with these specialty optics.  While Pancake’s name is a simultaneous nod toward both my photographic obsession and his Uromastyx defense mechanism (he flattens-out to evade predators), if I am caught naming new pets things like “Tessar,” “F-Stop,” or “Aperture,” please intervene.

The post Pancakes: More Than Just a Prime Breakfast appeared first on gap Intelligence.

While it is unclear as to the specifics of why LG was not part of Lowe’s product assortment prior to 2013, gap intelligence is witnessing a steady influx of products in Lowe’s retail locations nationwide

As illustrated in the chart above, Home Depot has held steady throughout the first half of 2013 with 69 LG placements, neither declining nor sharply increasing. Interestingly, it would seem that as Lowe’s enters the marketplace, Home Depot would respond with increasing assortments, but this has not been the case so far.

Lowe’s, however, is responding as anticipated with an influx of appliances early in the year (21 placements in February, 2013 alone), and is steadily debuting laundry duos, ranges, and refrigerators on a near weekly basis.

It’s notable to point out that floor space is coveted with large scale items such as home appliances. To illustrate this example, envision walking through your favorite home improvement or consumer electronics retailer. While shelf space is equally as valuable with smaller items such as digital cameras, notebooks, and tablets, it is much easier to reposition and refresh manufacturers and models as need be. This isn’t quite the case when it comes to home appliances. With Lowe’s bringing in LG products, it’s bound to dip into the floor space share of a competing manufacturer.

Currently, Frigidaire, Whirlpool, and Samsung occupy the largest percentage of floor space at Lowe’s. As trends continue, it is anticipated that one or more of these manufacturers will slightly decrease in floor space share as LG expands

An additional aspect that may come into play while retailers determine floor space share is innovation. Korean manufacturers, Samsung and LG, are at the forefront of developing smart technology to meet consumer demands for a more connected lifestyle. As new products debut with connectivity enabled technology, it may very well push out more traditional products that draw less demand.

Lowe’s is a FORTUNE 100 company that serves approximately 15 million customers a week at more than 1,745 stores across the United States, Canada and Mexico. In 2012, Lowe’s reported fiscal sales of $50.5 billion, a 0.6% increase over 2011. Similarly, LG is a $49 billion manufacturer with increasing profits year over year. The partnership of LG and Lowe’s is likely to prove profitable for both entities in expanding product assortments and continuing to drive profits in 2013.

The post ‘Life’s Good’ at Lowes appeared first on gap Intelligence.

Location: New Jersey (Jersey Shore)

Q: How long have you been working with gap?

A: 2 years, I was hired on my 25th birthday

Q: How did you get involved with gap?

A: gap was looking for a New York area collector to handle a special project and I had just finished my marketing internship with Sony’s Columbia/Epic Label Group when I applied and got the job.

Q: What is your favorite part of the job?

A: I love the people I’ve encountered while working at gap.  The staff is so genuinely nice, and they are appreciative of the efforts I put forth. I’ve also made some great friends while collecting as well.

Q: What is your favorite product category to collect and why?

A: Whichever category lets me find a great deal on a product. I used to love finding digital photo frames on clearance for $20, they made great Christmas presents!

Q: What is your favorite store to visit and why?

A: B&H Photo because it’s like an electronic Toys R’ Us!  Plus, it’s in New York City which is always an adventure. While collecting there I’ve watched the new World Trade Center construction, witnessed countless protests, and met Wycleff Jean walking on the street.

Q: What is something that you’ve learned about retail and consumer electronics through working with gap?

A: I’ve learned a lot about product pricing trends and it actually helped me purchase the Nikon J1 for $230 – which is about 60% less than its current selling price!

Q: What is the strangest incident to happen to you while collecting? ( A kick-out story, mean manager story, etc…)

A: Oh gosh, I have stories for days, but two of them are my favorite.  The first one was when I had the Sears loss prevention team thinking I was casing the place.  The other was when I collected at Staples and there was a manger that I conversed with every week.  I would ask her about her kids and she would ask about my brother who was in Iraq.  One night while I was collecting ink she acted like she had no idea who I was – she said she didn’t know my name, why I was there, or anything!  She then proceeded to kick me out the store. Shortly after that, she left the company and to this day I have no idea if she lost her mind or what.

Q: Share something interesting about yourself: Hobbies? Family? Other Job? Kids? Pets? Anything!

A: I have a beautiful son named Dominic Anthony who is 7 months old and the light of my life! I am engaged to be married to a wonderful man named Daniel.  On top of gap, I used to work for Grammy nominated artist RomAnthony, but with my son I can’t travel the way my position entailed. I still love everything music and have a concert addiction.  Before my son was born I would attend two concerts a month. My favorite movie is Ted, and I’d choose the Simpsons over Family Guy. I love flip flops, think applesauce is a food group, and I Google everything

Vanessa has been a great collector for us for the past two years and is always willing to take on more collections if we need her to which is really helpful!  We are glad that gap has been such a good fit for her and her growing family.

My blog series will be on hiatus shortly as I am going to be out on maternity leave in a week or so.  That being said, I am going to try and get in as many as possible before I go so stay tuned, and hopefully we’ll be learning more about another collector very soon!

The post Retail Data Collector #7: Vanessa from Newark appeared first on gap Intelligence.

gap intelligence’s home appliance industry intelligence services includes weekly pricing and promotion analysis for an assortment of products such as refrigerators, laundry units, and kitchen ranges.

“This is an exciting time for the home appliance industry that has seen rapid competitive change with new entrants and new buying dynamics. The market is moving faster and manufacturers are challenged more than ever to stay on top of it,” said Gary Peterson, founder and CEO of gap intelligence. “Shifts in retail pricing and in-store promotions alter constantly and gap intelligence’s weekly retail monitoring give manufacturers insights never offered to them before.”

Here are a few trends from a current gap intelligence report:

• With the recent addition of LG into the home improvement store at Lowe’s, other retailers such as Home Depot have increased LG product offerings in light of this increased competition
• Within the home appliance category, retailers on average promote products in-store through instant savings and mail-in rebates more than six times that of print advertisements
• Of the 125 in-store product placements within the laundry segment at Best Buy, 12 of those (9.6 percent) are connected smart appliances manufactured by Samsung

“From customer support to touchscreens, innovation surrounding the home retail market is bigger and more connected than ever,” said Christine Boersing, gap intelligence home appliance analyst. “We look forward to working with home appliance manufacturers to help them navigate the challenges and opportunities this shift toward automation demands.”

“Other research houses will drop the data at your door and leave. gap intelligence is unique in that we support our insights with a category specific analyst who makes sense of the information and serves as an extension to our clients’ market research departments,” said Peterson.

ABOUT GAP INTELLIGENCE

San Diego-based gap intelligence is a values-led corporation that works with manufacturers, resellers and industry players within the information technology, consumer electronics, and home appliance industries to bring them up to the minute market intelligence. For more information, visit www.gapintelligence.com

The post gapNews: gap intelligence adds home appliances to research specialties appeared first on gap Intelligence.

Samsung is a leading force in the home appliance initiative towards technology development. From washing machines that can be operated by a smartphone app, and refrigerators that can play music from a built in tablet screen, to appliances that run during optimal energy efficient hours, the Korean manufacturer recently released a refrigerator that provokes the question ‘Why didn’t someone think of this sooner?’ Allow me to introduce the newest four-door French door model featuring SodaStream technology.

Samsung’s RF31FMESBSR, features an integrated carbonated water dispenser that will deliver filtered sparkling water from the same mechanism on the refrigerator door that produces still water and ice. SodaStream is known mainly for producing home devices for carbonating beverages, which it markets as a way to save space and money on store-bought soda, as well as providing a more eco-friendly solution.

For the RF31FMESBSR four-door refrigerator, the manufacturer incorporated similar technology using 60L CO2 cylinders that sit in a concealed compartment inside the left refrigerator door. Users are able to select up to three levels of carbonation for sparkling water from the same control panel used to select water and/or ice.

SodaStream estimates the cost of its sparkling water at approximately $0.25 per liter.
In addition to the first-ever sparkling water dispenser within a refrigerator, the 30.5 cu. ft. model is also equipped with high-efficiency LED lights and an ice maker that can produce up to 10 lbs. of ice per day.

Similar models within the Samsung four-door assortment retail at approximately $3,199 without the SodaStream option. With that, the premium for the SodaStream technology is quite high and will likely only appeal to high-end shoppers. The stand-alone SodaStream device, sold at retailers such as Bed Bath & Beyond, retails for between $99 and $199 depending on options.

Although Samsung and LG are paving the road towards the ultimate connected home, it is anticipated that all manufacturers will follow suit as our lifestyles continue to evolve and as demand for these types of luxury appliances grows.

As is often the case with new technology, premiums remain high with feature rich products. While the SodaStream technology is brand-new to the refrigerator segment, one day this high-end option may be standard in all home refrigerators. The introduction of this new capability is sure to lead to further creativity and innovation throughout the home appliance segment.

The post What Can Your Refrigerator Do for You? appeared first on gap Intelligence.

The days are getting longer, the flowers are starting to bloom, and the people of gap intelligence are hard at work putting together a new round of presentations to share with our friends and family.

That’s right.  gapCon is back, hitting Liberty Station on Friday June 7th!

The third annual gapCon promises to serve up the same “Educate, Learn, Share” awesomeness that the event was founded upon, while bringing a bunch of new and equally awesome things.

Venue

For starters, we’re getting out of the office, moving gapCon All THE WAY down the street to the Barracks 17 Event Center on 2710 Historic Decatur Rd (Directions).  That’s almost the other side of Liberty Station!  As much as we love our office, Barracks 17 is a fantastic facility, and we’re very excited about this move.

Schedule

12pm – Reception: food, drinks, schmoozing
12:45pm – Keynote: Lisa Gordon-Hosch, City of San Diego Small Business Ambassador
1:15pm – gap intelligence Management Team Presentation
1:35pm – Analyst Team Presentation
1:55pm – Analyst Presentation: Deirdre Kennedy, Televisions

Break!

2:30pm – Development Team Presentation
2:50pm – Analyst Presentation: Adam Gajo, Inkjet Printing
3:10pm – Culture Panel

Break!

3:55pm – Analyst Presentation: Christine Boersing, Home Appliances
4:15pm – SysOps Team Presentation
4:35pm – Product Launch: Chris Barnes, gap new Price & Promotions Report
4:55pm  – Gary Peterson’s Closing Remarks

5PM – Club gap intelligence: food, drinks, schmoozing

Keynote

gapCon 2013 will kickoff with a keynote speech from the City of San Diego’s Small Business Ambassador, Lisa Gordon-Hosch.  It’s safe to say gap intelligence and Lisa Gordon-Hosch have shared interests and were thrilled to have her as our keynote.

Analyst Presentations

gapCon started in part as a venue for gap’s newest analysts to get some presentation reps, and once again we have a fresh group of analysts ready to drop knowledge on the gapCon 2013 audience.

• Sole gapCon veteran and the creator of gap’s Television service, Deirdre Kennedy, will explore the second screen evolution, the emergence of social TV, and their impact on the TV market
• Market Analyst Adam Gajo will give his take on emergence of PageWide inkjet printers and their possibly disruptive influence on the office imaging industry
• Appliances Analyst Christine Boersing will walk us through the Future of the Connected Home, tying each of her three categories into the technology evolution taking place within our homes.

Team Presentations

We have enough meetings here at gap intelligence to know that there is no “I” in team.  With that, in addition to putting our newest analysts at the podium for individual market presentations, gapCon 2013 will include a series of team presentations from each of our business groups.

Ever wanted to know what gap’s Analyst, SysOps, Developer, and OG teams had to say?  Then July 7th is your lucky day!

gap intelligence Dev Team

Culture Panel

Each year we open up gapCon to our friends in the San Diego business community, previously hosting teams from HP and Sony to discuss business, technology, and how they use data, among other things.  Given the fact that we at gap spend each day analyzing businesses and technologies and each week we produce a more than our share of data, this made a lot of sense.

This year, we’re taking our gapCon panel in a slightly different direction, shifting our focus exclusively on company culture and inviting multiple companies to discuss the role of culture and culture building in their companies.  The panel will include executives from Vavi, Red Door Interactive, and a third surprise guest, with moderation provided by gap intelligence’s own cultural icon, Tom Young.

Come on Down!

To all the friends of gap, we’d love to have you join us for gapCon 2013.  Just send us a note and we’ll get you on the list.

Beers are on us!

The post gapCon is in the Air appeared first on gap Intelligence.

“The addition of MPS support and copier-based products to our tool allows our clients to support any device type and sales scenario,” said Gary Peterson, president of gap intelligence. “We can empower sales organizations to optimize these IT hardware systems’ benefits on their customers’ workplace productivity and communicate those positive impacts on their bottom line.”

gapTCO clients can expect improved competitive positioning to customers, ongoing cost optimization throughout the MPS engagement, and reduced time to evaluate profitability of their MPS proposals.

In addition to the user-friendly aspects of the previous platform, the gapTCO system provides additional functions such as a responsive design and product photos for substantiation. Other system features include:

• Accurate data updated weekly and verified by a third party
• Full device, consumable, and service contracts database backed by gap intelligence research services
• Proposal generation with custom pricing to fit any custom sales solution
• Analysis of a device’s environmental impact

“These new capabilities provide our clients with the technical aptitude needed to be leaders in a very complex and constantly changing MPS industry,” said Chris Barnes, vice president of gap intelligence. “Our goal is to create the very best way for users to articulate competitive positioning and value to their customers.”

To find out more about gapTCO offered by gap intelligence, please call 619-574-1100 or visithttp://gapintelligence.com/gap-tco

ABOUT GAP INTELLIGENCE
San Diego-based gap intelligence is a values-led corporation that works with manufacturers, resellers and industry players within the information technology, consumer electronics, and home appliance industries to bring them up to the minute market intelligence. For more information, visit gap intelligence athttp://www.gapintelligence.com

The post gap intelligence Upgrades Total Cost of Ownership Tool to Include Managed Print Services (MPS) Assessments appeared first on gap Intelligence.

Before we go on to set the stage for how the clash between HP’s Officejet Pro X series and laser printers could potentially shift each technology’s market share, let’s keep in mind that the laser printer is still the champ, and for a good reason. With laser printers, there is trust within the business world that has relied on laser technology for years including: laser’s historically faster print speeds, text quality/sharpness versus inkjets, the ability for laser units to be managed in large fleets, and its perceived durability advantage. Not to mention, there is a huge market for low cost non-OEM toners, offering discounts to those willing to risk print quality, and high margins for B2B VARs. Laser printers have built up a well-established channel, including many resellers that are very selective in regards to the products and technologies they carry. Considering laser’s perceived and real advantages, HP’s new PageWide Officejet Pro X series has significant challenges to overcome in order to effectively make an impact on this market. And it won’t be done overnight.

One major step in overcoming PageWide’s channel challenges came last month when HP’s Officejet Pro X476dw reached Staples locations for $699. The new PageWide inkjet printer entered Staples with an entourage of marketing support including a video-equipped end cap display, in-store demonstrations, and the usual ‘Twice the speed and half the cost of color lasers’ message. The Staples placement is one example of HP leveraging the Officejet Pro line’s legacy to gradually move PageWide technology into mainstream channels.

The Officejet Pro X’s specs prove that the message at Staples isn’t all marketing fluff. The thing can print! Compared to the current laser competition that the Officejet Pro X476dw faces at Staples, its advantages are impressive. The Officejet Pro X476dw leads in key categories including: BW and Color print speeds, energy consumption, first print out times, standard paper capacity, and color print resolution (see below).

Clearly, the specs speak for themselves. But there is another compelling factor that SMBs will notice, and that is the Pro X’s relatively low acquisition and ink replacement costs. The bottom line savings that the Officejet Pro X476dw offers versus the competing lasers at Staples, using gap intelligence’s gapTCO tool, is up to $5,488 over a 5 year life-span. Based on an average monthly print volume of 1,500 pages (750 CLR @ 20% coverage, 750 BW @ 5%) and use of high-yield ink tanks, HP’s Officejet Pro X476dw’s total cost of ownership is $4,388, followed by Brother’s MFC-9970Cdw at $6,417, HP’s LaserJet Pro 300 Color MFP M375nw at $9,470, and Canon’s imageCLASS MF8380Cdw at $9,876.

Although the savings offered by the Officejet Pro X476dw is notable, and certainly helps to validate the vendor’s ‘half the cost of color laser’ claim, the question for business users and resellers remains whether the still unproven PageWide inkjet technology will be durable and reliable enough to withstand the high volume needs of business environments over many years.

Just like a real boxing match, the numbers don’t tell the whole story, as there are certain immeasurable factors that play into the battle that don’t show up on paper (or a specs sheet). What the laser printers have going for them is its strong chin in the form of ‘laser-bias’, among resellers in particular. The question is, will laser printers be able to withstand the hit the Officejet Pro X dishes out now that it is widely available in the channel and backed by HP’s marketing clout, as well as its attractive cost and specification advantages? Or will the challenger’s powerful and compelling value proposition be too much for SMBs to pass up.

As we are in the early rounds of the Officejet Pro X’s bout with laser printers, the battle will likely go on for many years. With any new disruptive technology, HP’s PageWide inkjets need repeated generations of competitive, high quality products to eventually win over established customers (draws in boxing usually favor the champion). Not to mention, laser manufacturers will not just hand over the SMB market without a fight, and will likely respond to HP’s PageWide technology with similar inkjet lines of their own, and the continued evolution of their laser systems. That said, nothing can take away from the fact that HP is heading in the right direction, and the vendor’s unprecedented PageWide technology has everyone watching on the edge of their seats. I’m a big fan of underdogs, and it’s ‘thrilling’ that HP is the underdog for once in the printer world.

The post HP Officejet Pro X Set to Battle Office Laser Printers appeared first on gap Intelligence.

The Team

It’s an idea that’s been thrown around the office for a while, and after months of talking about it, we’re now competing in a Vavi Kickball league under the name gapUniversity Fighting Hedgehogs.  A bunch of us are very excited about it, and the 3 games we’ve played thus far have been a blast.  Kickball basically has the same rules as baseball, except we only play 7 innings and with 10 players on the field.  Other than that, the rules are very similar.

There are some more interesting differences between baseball and kickball, though (aside from the fact that you’re kicking a 20mph big red ball instead of trying to hit a 95mph fastball).  For one, when the ball is kicked, it travels far differently from a baseball.  Trajectories are completely different, and tracking a fly ball can be very difficult.  Other than learning the fielding/defensive side of the game, some teams have pitchers who have mastered several different pitches, including curveballs, screwballs, changeups, and a unique high-bouncing ball that looks like it’s going to stay high, only to drop really low on the third bounce, much like a sinker in baseball.  On the offensive side, some players have learned to kick any type of pitch in any direction they like, making them quite the dangerous kicker.  As a few games have gone by, we’ve come across a few of these players/teams.

Our first game (Let’s call it a learning experience), we lost 5-2 to a very good team.  Down 5-0 in the 7^th inning, we showed some promise by scoring 2 runs on a string of good kicks by the Fighting Hedgehogs, but couldn’t rally.  In the following game, we won with a score of 7-4.  Though the score was not indicative our sheer domination, we were clearly the better team with nearly error-free fielding, some great kicks, and smart base-running.  In our most recent game, we lost a 1-0 heartbreaker from a walk-off homer to an undefeated team.  Their team had mastered some of the finer points of the game, such as bunting, directional kicking, and a pitcher with more than just the old number 1.

Got Heem

We’ve started to settle into our natural fielding positions and everyone’s getting reacquainted with the old elementary school sport of kickball.  Our next game is May 9^th under the lights, and the team is ready to get back on the winning track.

Also, for anyone who just happened to read my blog from last summer, I’d like to reiterate that I am NOT a competitive eater… though I did hear about a $30-or-free burrito challenge in Clairemont that I am very interested in.

The post An Elementary School Recess Sport turned Competitive appeared first on gap Intelligence.

The total number of available dual and value packs has demonstrated growth of at least 50% per year since gap intelligence began tracking the channel. In all of 2012, nine products entered the channel and so far in 2013, there have already been four.

With such impressive growth, specific factors must be driving the demand for such products. The most likely reasons include increased demand from consumers, as well as a rise in the use of ecommerce to purchase products. Starting with consumers, greater purchases of value pack products could reflect a change in the mindset of Brazilian shoppers. The purpose of a value pack is to give consumers a bulk discount compared to purchasing the included products individually. Shoppers have to pay slightly more up-front, but the final savings is usually justified through lower long-term cost and overall cost per page. Other benefits of a value pack can include a reduction in the number of purchases, though this mostly applies to dual packs where the consumer would receive multiple units of the same cartridge. Because Brazilians are known for having more price-conscious mentalities, increased acceptance of higher-priced products would be a notable change.

The increase in the number of value packs online could also be fueled by a spike in the number of consumers using the internet to make these types of purchases, leading OEMs to focus on expanding their presence in a variety of channels. Additionally, with the government’s push to expand broadband Internet access through the Programa Nacional de Banda Larga (PNBL) to those that do not yet have it, more Brazilians are gaining access to the internet, and as a result, shifting some of their purchases to this channel. However, because Brazil’s weak infrastructure makes transportation of goods difficult, the IT channel is likely to remain less-frequently used than physical locations, at least for now**.

Despite these obstacles, online purchases in Brazil are rising. The market volume of Brazilian ecommerce grew by 20% annually to $22.5 billion in 2012, according to Brazilian firms e-bit and Buscapé. According to the companies, the average ticket increased from R$338 ($170.39) in the first half of 2012 to R$346 ($174.42) in the second half of the year, attributable to promotional activities and greater sales of higher value-added products, such as smartphones, tablets, and notebooks, in the second half of the year.

One of the most notable examples supporting a shift in the Brazilian market is the arrival of a new Samsung dual pack in Brazil in IT channels roughly two months before the US. A new product debuting in Brazil prior to the US is quite rare, unless it is designed for that market, largely due to challenges with importing, taxes, and infrastructure. The fact that a higher-priced product was first pushed into a market where consumers have traditionally placed greater emphasis on price could demonstrate that there is actually a higher demand for these types of products, and that OEMs are looking to better support that demand.

*For all-inclusive purposes, any mention of “value pack” also includes dual packs
**It should be noted that physical storefronts remain the most popular shopping destinations in Brazil. In-store, consumers can find a much wider variety of extremely low-priced bottle refill options, so it is unlikely that a greater presence of dual pack products online (regardless of the discount) will be enough to completely transform consumer shopping habits, but at the very least could reflect a shift in the mindset of consumers.

The post An E“value”ation of Value Pack Offerings in Brazil appeared first on gap Intelligence.