RadioShack

For those of you who are of the age, Radioshack was once a bricks and mortar store where you could buy your electrical devices, gizmos, batteries and wires.

So it turned into Amazon?

No. Like most companies at the time they didn't go further and Amazon, well did. But this is not a sleight on Radioshack. Many companies in the same situation did exactly the same. Remember as well Amazon was losing money and people didn't like Amazon as a stock to buy.

Anyway. Radioshack has been bought, sold and bought again. It is now in the catalogue of the holding company Unicomer. Unicomer? According to an about us page:

"Unicomer Group acquired the RadioShack franchise in El Salvador in January 1998 with the vision of expanding it throughout Central America, the Caribbean with a presence in over 20 countries. This successful partnership allowed RadioShack to become the go-to destination for any tech needs in every country it operates, continuing its legacy of offering technology products and accessories to a wider audience."

Nice background, so what can an electronics company do now?

When you buy a legacy brand like Radioshack there are some positives that come with it (a well known brand, fluffy feelings for people who remember it). But you can also have negative feelings like- they had bad products, bad customer experiences, why should we trust a brand that could go down now. And, do people who you are targeting remember the brand?

So it is a little mine field. And that is not forgetting the main elephant in the room. If you are selling electronic equipment online then how are you going to stick out effectively enough?

This is what Unicomer must have thought about. when buying Radioshack. Would we? I'm not too sure. Going back to basics is the best idea to grab that nostalgia back. And maybe that is the key to everything. Hostess company did something similar. They were having trouble, were going to close and people got a rush of nostalgia- how about my Twinkies? They got bought out, reorganised then went heavily into that nostalgia trip and the company did well again. For how long is anyones guess but then you need to figure out new things that fit with a changing audience while you are still flying high.

What can Unicomer do?

It seems like they are starting on their home turf and then going to go back into the US. But how?

They are going to go for brand creation rather than selling other brands products.

This is smart. Electronic resellers have a pain of a minuscule margin to work with. Everyone is rushing to sell discounted products that everyone else is selling. With the best sellers making bulk sells- like Amazon- selling one thing to many people. Also the manufacturer does well.

If you sell your own products then that is a better profit margin, you can create and manoeuvre if the tide changes. If you are a retail store then you have way too many factors outside of your control controlling your cash flow.

So they are selling niche first and then building up their product range? Remember finding that nostalgia and then building from that? It doesn't seem to be doing this. However some of the products are not that bad. But people are actually remembering the Radioshack brand.

Even some of the Amazon reviews state this:

So what is Radioshack known for?

This is from AI:

"RadioShack was known for being a long-standing American electronics retailer that provided a wide range of products, from its origins in amateur radio equipment to personal computers like the TRS-80, and eventually consumer electronics and mobile phones. It was also known for its small stores, which sold both finished goods and individual electronic parts, making it a destination for hobbyists and DIYers."

What also is quite funny is that Radioshack also did private label selling- selling their own products. :)

So what has Unicomer gone for, with all this in mind?

Yep, a range of products. Sure it is nice to get into roughly everything, but when you ask someone about their Radioshack headphones? And if you go onto their website for headphones, we picked out one from this screen.

The headphone page:

Tells you where to buy from (cut off at the top- Amazon just in case you wondered which is a little ironic). Description, details and that is it. No video, no comments (though you can create some). And that is it for the picture. There is a comparison button. You click it then grab other headphones, click the button on those and a page of data comes up showing all the tiny details.

Why not compare them automatically against customer rated (and there is no rating), most sold, best for budget, best under $X?

But...hang on...

So, had to do this. When you search those headphones you get multiple websites that sell them. One being Amazon. And Amazons sales page looks like this:

It has additional pictures...and it has all the information needed regarding Radioshack and it looks great! The reviews are good and shows that RadioShack brand can be good.

Why isn't this advertised more so on their own website. Why isn't the idea of promoting "not what you thought for the price" type of ads?

But their own website looks odd.

So it seems like they are using marketplaces like BestBuy and Amazon to sell their products. This is a good deal. But still they are going to have a problem.

They are not Sony so the name won't travel that far that quickly. They need to build up what Radioshack defines itself on. If anyone asks Radioshack it should mean something. Rather than a trading on the brand name the actual brand itself came with principles:

Niche products
Customer service
Electronics knowledge

In other words, when Amazon gives you alternatives on the page like this:

Why Radioshacks one?

This is where we think Radioshack needs to tighten what it means to be Radioshack. A whole host of electronic products is not necessarily helping, even though it will be profitable by the amount of products present.

On the About Radioshack they state:

"By prioritizing excellence and innovation, we are comitted (sic) to offer unbeatable value and redefine expectations".

Does it seem that way at the present time?

Maybe, maybe not.

Have a look at the main page of the headphones screen again:

No where does it mention what is so cool and great about these headphones. Lets take an example from Sony. Same thing, noise cancelling headphones.

The page is long and gives you tons of information about why this set of headphones are great, why you need them and there is a price justification. Even just under a gallery of pictures for one headphone type you get this:

Bang. In one picture horizon, before the page fold you get the low down of what to expect. And you expect this because it is Sony, that is what they are good at. When you check online to see what Sony is good at (excluding Playstation and movies):

Known for innovations like noise-cancellation technology, headphones, and microphones.
Throughout its history, Sony has been known for introducing numerous "world's first" products, which has contributed to its reputation for quality and innovation

You get known for something and then use that goodwill and "brand power" to drill outwards.

But if you are releasing tons of products under a brand name then you are either going to:

have to sell tons at a low price.
Or, increase the price and become better than competitors.
The middle is the hard ground to defend. The only way is to try and differentiate and suggest, like we have said before, better than high priced products but with the same features.

Amazon reviews state it and they need to be consistent with this message.

And why is this now important in retail?

Because AI is picking up social signals for sales and reviews. Looking at Reddit and Quora and probably Amazon reviews. You want that theme to be Radioshack is back and the price and quality don't match. They are great products for far cheaper.

Reddit and Youtube are starting to come up in RadioShack headphones reviews and comments: