HTSA Reports 24% Sales Bump on Vendor Member Gear in 2021

FORT LAUDERDALE -- Despite persistent supply chain constraints, the Home Technology Specialists of America had a 23.7% jump in purchases from HTSA vendors in 2021, after a “mid-20s” bump in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Executive Director Jon Robbins told us at the buying group’s spring meeting here.

The growth curve in January and February continued to rise, with a 33.1% hike over the first two months of 2021, Robbins said. “We’re pretty bullish,” he said, recalling initial concerns in spring 2020 “that the industry would hit the bricks, and everything would grind to a halt.” Results were “the opposite,” he said, and HTSA members rode consumer spending trends on home entertainment, networking and office upgrades.

Robbins focused on HTSA’s lighting effort, which launched five years ago, spearheaded by Tom Doherty, director-new technology initiatives. The group had the first Lightapalooza event for integrators last month in Dallas (see 2202020057), opening it to integrators outside HTSA “for an upcharge.” HTSA members could charge some classes to their “services suite accounts,” he said.

HTSA opened the event to nonmember integrators with the hope that “a rising tide raises all boats.” If HTSA wants to be successful in lighting, “we have to be proficient at it -- as an industry,” he said. About 85% of the 150 attendees were HTSA members, Robbins said.

The goal with the lighting initiative -- offering clients a solution combining lighting design, fixtures and control -- was to “get in on the conversation” earlier with trade partners and influencers, Robbins said. Too often, electronics integrators are brought in late in the project when lighting and other systems have already been specified. “The AV guys have been low man on the totem pole; we’re like the last people in,” he said, but that’s starting to change as integrators are brought in for lighting design.

Robbins also played up HTSA’s relationship-building effort, led by Keith Esterly, chief learning architect. “It’s not about selling product; it’s about creating relationships” with clients, Esterly told us. Dealers’ competition isn’t other AV integrators but other luxury goods providers such as swimming pool installers, boat dealers and high-end appliance sellers, he said.

When COVID-19 hit and it wasn't possible to meet in person, HTSA had to figure out an alternative to communicate with dealers. It launched a website, dubbed the Vault, which has grown to about 540 members, passing a “stretch goal” of 400, Esterly said. It’s free to members, funded by the group's marketing and education budget.

The Vault, which will continue even with the resumption of in-person events, has videos and lighting technology training sessions, segments on client loyalty building and management topics, Esterly said. All conferences over the past two years became virtual events, he said, with Zoom-based panels and presentations live on the Vault, he said.

About 30 vendors are participating in the online effort, providing their training materials for online access, and the group will “court” additional vendor members this week, Esterly said. He billed it as a “one-stop shop,” where integrators can go to find materials from vendors and the group.

Inflation hasn’t hit the custom integration channel yet, Robbins said. “Our clients aren’t really affected by higher food costs and higher gas prices.” Some are concerned, but for the most part, HTSA customers are “high-net-worth individuals,” and inflation “is not going to stop them from enjoying themselves.” HTSA dealers "benefited from people being home,” Robbins said. He noted the stimulus payments to mainstream consumers in the past two years helped create the current supply-demand imbalance. Consumers helped by the stimulus programs “were buying up products that we would be supplying," he said.

Dealers joining HTSA since 2020 are Captive Audio, Austin; Chelsea Audio Video, Beaverton, Oregon; Cloud 9 Integrated Systems, Steamboat Springs, Colorado; Electronic Concepts, Rochelle Park, New Jersey; Electronic Environments, New York; Eyehear Technology Group, Kalispell, Montana; Integrated AV, Edmond, Oklahoma; Opus AVC, North Haven, Connecticut; Precision Media, Lakewood, Colorado; Premiere Systems, Chicago; and Ratio AV, Farmington, Utah.