Become Your Customers’ Hero!
The fourth accessory in our feature series tackles a problem every portable device user faces…a dead battery. One consequence of the wireless revolution is that consumers are hooked—they take their smartphones and tablets everywhere. We’ve all seen it, people panicking when their smartphone or tablet “dies” when they realize they don’t have a way to bring them back. Either they don’t have their charging cable or there’s no access to an electrical outlet because they’re on the go. But chaos doesn’t have to reign supreme, nor does your customer have to feel like it’s the apocalypse. You, as a retailer, can be their new hero and save them from the “dead” by stocking and selling an array of portable power packs!
Recent CEA market research has shown that 66% of wireless phone accessories and 44% of tablet accessories are purchased at the same time as the device itself. If you sell mobile devices, this is the perfect opportunity to add on to the sale with a portable power product. If you don’t sell devices, you still have opportunities such as actively promoting portable power so your customers will be thinking about portable power proactively and educate your sales staff so they’ll have the right answers ready for customer inquiries.
A good first step in educating yourself and your staff is to take a look at our Take Charge of Your Charge chart below. It’s a great tool to use for your staff as well as a reference to create your own in-store portable power display to attract and self-educate customers.
There are two basic specs of a power pack: mAh capacity and amperage of its USB output(s). The larger the mAh rating, the greater the charge the power pack will provide to a power-hungry device or the more multiple recharges it will provide to smaller devices. As for the outputs, 2.4A is a high-output connection for iPad Air. Tablets, eReaders and iPad devices require 2.1A output. Smartphones, MP3 players, keyboards and headsets use 1A. Higher output power packs will charge devices that require less output. It’s not advisable to charge devices with higher ouput requirements with lower power output batteries. So to steer customers to the right portable power, first qualify what device they want to recharge. Then determine how many times they want to be able to recharge it before depleting the power pack itself. Additionally, most power packs are virtually universal, thanks to their USB connections, though some are Apple specific and feature Lightning or 30-pin connectors, which is something else to keep in mind when speaking with your customers.
For customers who simply need to recharge their smartphones a couple times before having to recharge the power pack, the iBattz Mojo Vogue Battstation 5600 Portable Charger with the 1A USB output is a good place to start. It has a battery capacity of 5,600mAh, yet weighs less than 5oz and can easily be carried in a pocket, purse or backpack thanks to its compact dimensions. It also comes with a built-in white LED light, making it a perfect emergency flashlight. Recharging the Battstation 5600 only takes about 6 hours.
For those wanting to recharge up to 4 USB devices at once, consider the Mutant 20,800mAh Portable Power Pack by Lenmar. It has two 2.4A and two 1A USB ports, so users can charge up to 2 tablets and 2 smart phones simultaneously. Despite its large capacity, the Mutant is fairly small with dimensions of only 5.77″L x 4.67″W x .86″D and weighs just over one pound and recharges in 10 hours.
For customers who want or need to be totally free of the grid, consider solar-powered power packs. One example is the 6,000mAh USB Backup Battery Pack with Dual Solar Panels by CobraSelect. It can simultaneously recharge up to three devices. One USB output is 2.1A and the other two are 1A—one a USB, the other a micro USB and the whole thing weighs just a little over 10oz. When open to expose both solar panels, the height is 11.5″. Recharging the unit in full sunlight takes 10 to 12 hours. If there is access to electricity, recharging takes 8–15 hours via USB cable.
Another option that is growing in popularity is the combination phone case and power pack. These eliminate the cable, which can make using a phone with a power pack awkward. Take, for example, the Samsung Galaxy S 4 Halo 2,600mAh Power Case by Lenmar. Not only does it double the battery life of the phone, it offers protection for the device and has cutouts in the case to allow proper use of headphones, camera, flash and charging port. It’s even NFC capable! One key thing to remember is that these integrated power cases are phone-specific, unlike power packs that generally are not.
Smartphone and tablet sales are projected to continue with steady growth. So, capitalize on your customers’ wireless love affair. Not only offer them cases, covers and chargers, but portable power solutions as well. Here at Petra, we have over 120 SKUs devoted to just portable power, so contact your Petra sales rep today to learn more. Then dive in there and save the world from the “dead”!