North Carolina-based retailer Audio Advice, purveyor of audio technology, home theater, and whole-house automation, is opening its virtual doors to the world with the launch of its new e-commerce website. The interactive digital storefront is designed to deliver the same level of product curation, expert consultation, and customer service that has helped make Audio Advice a successful business.
“Our new website will introduce Audio Advice to a nationwide audience, and we’re excited that our passion for high-quality sound will transform even more lives, just as it has here in North Carolina for almost 40 years,” said Scott Newnam, president and CEO of Audio Advice.
Newnam, a Harvard Business School graduate who launched a technology start-up while earning his MBA, joined Audio Advice as co-owner in 2007, partnering with founder Leon Shaw. Shaw was just 23 when the self-proclaimed “tech geek” opened his Raleigh stereo shop in 1978. Audio Advice is now the largest seller of premium audio and home theater systems in the Southeast, and Shaw is widely recognized for his expertise in technical performance, product selection, and system design.
“I’ve known Audio Advice for many years, and when they decide to do something, they do it right,” said Jon Robbins, executive director of Home Technology Specialists of America (HTSA), a national trade cooperative that promotes industry quality standards and practices. “The new e-commerce website is the most advanced online audio store in our industry, with incredible product videos and reviews, which is exactly what I expect from Audio Advice.”
Audio Advice showrooms in Raleigh and Charlotte exhibit a range of audio and acoustic technology, including one of the best selections of high-performance speakers in the U.S., from brands like Bowers & Wilkins, MartinLogan, Aerial Acoustics, Vandersteen, PSB, JL Audio, and others. The showrooms include fully immersive listening and home theater demonstration environments, and are staffed by knowledgeable professionals.
The Audio Advice website is designed to provide visitors with a similar showroom experience online, leveraging nearly four decades of expertise in ultra-high performance audio and system design to offer home and personal audio products of the highest quality. The site features the top products in each price category, tested and selected by Shaw and his team, including headphones, digital music systems, turntables, and speakers. Online video tutorials and reviews presented by Audio Advice experts help build familiarity with the brands, products, and systems in order to educate the buyer.
“Our philosophy is curation, education, and transformation,” said Newnam. “We conduct our own reviews and produce original videos providing unique insights into to the top audio products at each price point. No other retailer in our industry comes close to this level of product curation and customer education, with the ultimate goal of transforming the personal experience of enjoying music and media. Combined with real time access to our experts, free online shipping, and no-hassle returns, www.audioadvice.com sets a new standard for an audio website.”
The website invites visitors to complete a personalized “sound profile,” which analyzes a customer’s tastes, preferences, and level of interest in technical performance, along with cost criteria. The information enables the platform to serve content and product information best suited to the individual. In-depth buyers guides, offering side-by-side product comparisons, together with setup guides and expert assistance available by phone or online chat, provide customers with an high level of insight and support.
With its e-commerce functionality, Audio Advice aims to expand beyond the Southeast to serve a nationwide marketplace, targeting a broader and more diverse audience including music-savvy Millennials who are helping push music sales to all-time highs. The transition to digital audio servers and streaming music players represents an opportunity to guide product and purchase decisions as technologies evolve. At the same time, the demand for premium turntables has exploded as sales of vinyl LPs continue to soar.
Audio Advice has been recognized with multiple industry honors for home theater design and service, including “Best Specialty Dealer in the U.S.” and “Best Theater Installation in America” (TWICE magazine). Shaw, who currently serves as national president of HTSA, attributes the success and longevity of Audio Advice to the philosophy of always putting quality and customer relationships above the quest for sales and profit. The new website, he says, embodies that approach.
“We want to convey online the same dedication to product knowledge and service that you get in person from our staff of specialists, some of whom have decades in the business,” Shaw said. “We will continuously produce new content as we discover great new products, especially those unknown diamonds in the rough that make our site so exciting for everyone who loves high-quality sound.”
