October’s MMMR Round Up - Smart Home Gains, Black Friday Trends & AI Insights

October’s market mood was up to 7.2 out of 10 (+0.3 up on September) and reasons for positivity for some are reflected in smart home category performance with a 20% rise in respondents registering sales that were ‘above expectation’. Personal audio held its own with a slight increase in sales meeting expectation levels.

Gaming accessories, headsets and projectors were flagged up as surprise performers with e-mobility and scooters registering a disappointing performance. Logistics and supply chain disruptions caused by shipping delays and slower freight times are still a headache for distributors with some also concerned about the lack of product innovation.

One of the big moves in the European retail landscape this year has been the Ceconomy takeover by JD.com but when respondents were asked if they were particularly concerned by the move, 67% were indifferent with only 10% admitting to being ‘very concerned’ by the change in ownership.

Black Friday continues to push back its start date with only 7 respondents indicating that none of their retail partners had started any sales promotions. Expectation levels in terms of sales performance look buoyant with 18% expecting better numbers compared to 2024 and 49% expecting a similar sales result.

While AI seems to be everywhere right now, we wanted to know what was really going on in terms of AI applications being adopted by the MMMR community. 44% of respondents are already using AI solutions at the office with a further 38% planning to implement solutions in the near future. Check out the full report for details of the most popular applications.

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