By Claire Reilly

As awareness of digital radio in Australia grows and time spent listening to digital radios in the metropolitan capitals climbs, one industry figure has called on retailers to do more to highlight these products as part of a stand-alone category in their stores.

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Robert Costello, general manager of sales and marketing at Canohm, distributor of the Sangean brand, says that many retailers are starting to see digital radio as just a feature on audio products, rather than a category in itself. According to Costello, this is the wrong approach.

“We should still be dazzling newcomers to the concept with the amazing advantages digital radio has to offer,” said Costello. “Just because we in the industry might be thinking it’s not special anymore, we have to remember there are many people out there who are yet to really experience digital radio and they deserve to be introduced to it in the best way possible. 

“Industry figures and anecdotal evidence tells us that the sales of digital radio have reached a plateau and are now on a stable course.  Presumably early adopters have long ago made their move and we now have sales going to regular radio purchasers taking the obvious step of moving up to the latest technology. So having a strong radio offer in-store should remain an important strategy to all CE retailers.

“There aren’t that many new technologies these days that we should be turning our backs on digital radio as still being exciting,” he added. “Let’s keep the hype alive.”

To give digital radio the prominence it deserves in stores, Costello said retailers should remember two key things.

“Try to ensure you have digital radio reception,” he said. “There are ways to achieve this even if your store is a concrete and steel bunker.

“Secondly, know the features and benefits, including high quality stereo sound for all stations, additional stations not on analogue, helpful information displayed on screen and easier tuning by station name, just to mention a few.

“If you haven’t tried it yourself you can’t convey the message properly to the customer.”

For more information on the latest digital radio products and trends, turn to the May 2013 issue of Appliance Retailer magazine.