Stephen J. Alexander

Lake Tahoe, NV - Billed as a two-day symposium on "Winners and Losers in the Automotive Aftermarket of the 1990s," the annual Frost & Sullivan meeting at Harvey's Resort drew over 100 top level industry management attendees in late July.

Twenty-two members of the Frost & Sullivan Conference "faculty" assembled to deliver talks ranging from Wall Street's view of the aftermarket, to where car dealers saw their niche in the aftermarket developing.

In between, a number of talks were targeted on the changing and reduced impact of DIY sales in the decade ahead, and offsetting changes in other traditional and consumer segments. With few exceptions, speakers were supportive of two emerging trends that promise to shape aftermarket sales in the years ahead:

• The influence of the DIYer on retail sales will shift from parts replacement and underhood and undercar maintenance toward slight increases in the broad areas of automotive accessories and chemicals.
• The professional, and semi-professional installer will become a more important factor in the marketplace, particularly in the sale of replacement hard parts through the jobber/retailer channel; and increased activity in chemicals and accessories purchases through the volume channel.

Stephen Alexander, Automotive Aftermarket Consulting Inc. explored changing point-of-sale merchandising technology. He emphasized the impact of electronics on in-store selling, and on category management to organize information and product selection. He sees the aftermarket as a mature $32 billion industry in need of "push visibility." Alexander says that 70 percent of consumers make buying decisions inside the store environment.