TechForward Unveils Broad Strategy at CES To Accelerate Upgrade Cycle for Consumer Electronics
Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas, NV – January 7, 2008 — TechForward, Inc., a leading provider of financial services for consumer electronics, unveiled here today a wide-ranging service line to help retailers, product manufacturers, and consumers overcome obstacles to more frequent upgrade purchasing of popular consumer electronics product categories. The company’s innovative business model addresses one of the biggest questions on the minds of CES exhibitors: how to entice consumers to make new purchases in established product markets.
Guaranteed Buyback is a high-margin point of sale add-on service that is sold at the time of purchase in the same manner as an extended warranty to make it easy for customers to return their devices and get cash or store credit that can be used toward their next purchase. Now TechForward is dramatically expanding this service offering to encompass categories that represent 50 percent of the estimated $160 billion annual consumer electronics market. Service categories now include: laptop computers, desktop computers, digital music players, flat screen TVs, LCD monitors, GPS devices, DVD/HD-DVD/Blue-Ray players, and printers.
“With CE retailers under intensified financial pressure and declining growth rates in many product categories, it’s time to rethink our industry’s consumer purchasing model,” said Jade Van Doren, Chief Executive Officer of TechForward. “TechForward’s Guaranteed Buyback services are quickly demonstrating their ability to win consumer favor and drive new product uptake.”
Early retailers of the Guaranteed Buyback services have experienced a 12 percent adoption rate. The ‘pay it forward’ approach gives consumers confidence and comfort in purchasing new electronic gear more quickly and more often – combating a growing trend to keep devices longer without upgrading. By guaranteeing the repurchase of devices for fixed prices in the future, retailers can now offer powerful incentives to spur the immediate and constant purchase of new and improved equipment.
“With tens of thousands of new gadgets being introduced at CES, consumers and retailers alike need motivation and incentives to push sales of the latest and greatest,” said VP of Operations Marc Lebovitz. “Similar to leasing in the automotive industry, the Guaranteed Buyback program introduces a temporary ownership model that eliminates the wait-and-see approach to purchasing new gadgets with locked in offers.”
The program is built upon patent-pending predictive models of the future value of used electronic devices in secondary markets. The TechForward engine mines data on used consumer electronics device sales from a variety of secondary markets for price points and trends and incorporates market intelligence and product release roadmaps. It then applies sophisticated statistical analysis algorithms to project future depreciation schedules and resale prices. TechForward systems also deliver a powerful combination of business intelligence, operations management, customer relationship management, and merchant reporting for comprehensive support for retailers throughout the purchase and trade-in process.
TechForward’s point of sale purchase protection helps drive initial and repeat purchasing, loyalty, and long-term connections to the customer. Electronics customers can be reminded of expiring buyback amounts every 3-6 months, providing the opportunity for retailers to encourage faster purchase cycles and upgrade urgency.
The Guaranteed Buyback program also helps electronics stores and device manufacturers to efficiently and responsibly handle previously owned or outdated devices. TechForward’s partners and channels provide a way for trade-in devices to be sold and used in developing secondary markets or recycled properly and cost-effectively.
TechForward will be conducting media briefings and demonstrating its service at the CES ShowStoppers event on January 7 at the Wynn Hotel from 6 – 10 p.m.
About TechForward, Inc.
TechForward gives customers the flexibility to upgrade their computers and electronics more affordably, easily, and responsibly. Our Guaranteed Buyback™ product takes the uncertainty out of upgrading by guaranteeing future trade-in values for devices at the point and time of sale, by making the trade-in process easy, and by reusing or recycling returned devices. TechForward markets its products through consumer electronics manufacturers and retailers, and more information can be found at www.TechForward.com.
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