Sony courting US discounters
Electronics giant in talks with Wal-Mart and Costco
Sony is negotiating with leading US discount retailers Wal-Mart and Costco to sell its products.
Reflecting the increasing dominance of the US value retailers, as well as an increasingly competitive sales environment, the Japanese electronics brand is rethinking its traditional reluctance to see its products sold in a discount environment.
While Sony will continue its distribution through specialist US electrical retailers such as Best Buy and Circuit City, it hopes to take a share of the market which South Korean and Chinese electronics manufacturers have built by supplying chains such as Wal-Mart, Target and CostCo.
Sony spokesman Daichi Yamafuji told the Associated Press news agency: “We want to carry out business with Wal-Mart and Costco more aggressively. We see them as important sales channels.”
The move echoes the experience of brands such as Levi-Strauss, which rethought its premium only-policy by developing the successful Levis’ Signature brand to sell through value retailer channels.
