The Vancouver Sun has an article today on TiVo sales in Canada, where it was just recently introduced at retail, which is very upbeat. It has already been selling well at Future Shop:
Future Shop only got TiVo in all its stores on Tuesday, but accepted pre-orders from customers, who got a free wireless adapter with the order.
Susan Kirk, communications manager at Future Shop, said pre-orders were heavy, and she anticipates TiVo will be a big seller during the Christmas shopping period.
And at London Drugs:
Colin Cottrell, merchandise manager for electronics and audio-video systems at London Drugs, said customer reaction to the TiVo has been very strong.
“The sell-through has been incredible considering we haven’t done any advertising,” said Cottrell, who added that the first ad for TiVo appeared in a Tuesday flyer, more than a week after the stores had the device.
“A lot of customers have known about the product for several years, and don’t need really need much explanation,” said Cottrell.
“Others have heard about TiVo, and are coming in and asking lots of questions, and a good percentage of them are buying.”
“It’s been selling extremely well,” said Cottrell, who wonders if he should have ordered more TiVos on his initial order.
TiVo has to be loving this news. Even though TiVo has been available in Canada from online resellers, there are still a lot of people who buy at retail. So there is a lot of pent-up demand for TiVo that the stores are answering right now. I just hope TiVo can find a way to deliver an HD capable product for the Canadian market, as they don’t use CableCARD, so that they can continue to grow sales as the market shifts to HD over time.
