DENVER - Some people in the automotive aftermarket are uncomfortable with technology, according to Edward L. Kaufman. They say, "It's not for me."

Yet technology "is going to determine the winners and the losers in the market in the next few years." Kaufman, president of the Lindsey-Kaufman Co., Tenafly, N.J., stressed the importance of understanding technology, learning to live with it and using it to the best advantage as he opened Frost & Sullivan's 17th annual Strategic Automotive Aftermarket Conference Aug. 1 in Denver.

"The Impact of Technology on the Automotive Aftermarket" was the conference theme. Attendance of 55 persons -- retailers, manufacturers, marketers and others -- was down from prior conferences, Kaufman said, but was a good showing in light of the industry's current conditions. `ELECTRONIC RETAILING' - Retailers can benefit directly from technology by utilizing it to "grab the consumers' attention," said Stephen J. Alexander, vice president-automotive, of the Howard Marlboro Group/Intermark, Pittsburgh.

Automotive retailers can increase sales as well as enhance their levels of customer service through telemarketing, said George Fredrics, a Roslyn Heights, N.Y., automotive and telemarketing recruiter. Fredrics was among 22 speakers at Frost & Sullivan's 17th annual Strategic Automotive Aftermarket Conference. Sources: Direct Marketing Association, Forecaset Associates, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and Telemarketing.

The popularity of electronic point-of-purchase merchandising is growing as a result of demographic changes, he said, and retailers -- including those in the automotive aftermarket -- can benefit.

With the growth of two-income families, today's consumers want both convenience and enhanced service, according to Alexander. But this comes at a time when retailers are finding it more difficult to maintain current levels of service.

Electronic merchandising -- enhancing the information and service a consumer has available -- can work as well in an automotive setting as it has in foods, hosiery and sporting goods, all areas where his company has had marketing success, said Alexander.

High-tech point-of-sale displays can play a significant role in selling merchandise on impulse, said Alexander. He cited statistics that 75 percent of all final buying decisions are made by consumers in the location where the particular product sits on the shelf, and that 65 percent of those consumers will make a completely unplanned impulse purchase based on in-store merchandise display at the point of sale.

Innovative "Point-of-information" displays can address a situation that's not unique to the automotive aftermarket but throughout retailing today, Alexander said. Economics has created a situation where the source of information necessary to close a sale no longer is located at the product, he said. "Today's consumers are confused. They want believable, reliable information to use in making their buying decisions. Computers can provide fast, easy, convenient access to information, and don't consumers want the same thing?" Computerized displays at the point-of-merchandise display can give consumers just that, said Alexander. Combining the "point of education" with the "point of information" enables a retailer to "respond to the consumer's real needs," he said. "There is a significant advantage to the vendor who does the best job of merchandising his category and reaching his ultimate goal - control of space, which equals category dominance."

Technology "is going to determine the winners and losers in the market in the next few years," said Edward L. Kaufman, who has chaired each of the 17 Frost & Sullivan strategic aftermarket conferences. "The impact of Technology on the Automotive Aftermarket" was the conference theme. "There is a significant advantage to the vendor who does the best job of merchandising his category and reaching his ultimate goal -- control of space, which equals category dominance," according to Stephen J. Alexander of the Howard Marlboro Group/Intermark.

Today's computer-based merchandising can run a complete range of functions, from shopping-cart-based systems which tell a shopper what groceries to buy; to PC-based home-shopping services such as Prodigy, now being tested by Sears; to kiosk- or shelf-edge-based technology which educates, informs and recommends a specific purchase, actually carrying on a dialog with the consumer. Such retailing technology, said Alexander, provides service to the customer in the absence of a salesperson. With various levels of programming sophistication "you can write your own story, your way, and have it told that way every day with all the guesswork removed.

"Electronic retailing," he said, "engenders customer satisfaction and makes them feel they made the right choice. It's viewed by the customer as reliable, professional and impartial."

Twenty percent of all products will be sold electronically by 2000, Alexander predicted.

Electronic retailing is a concept that's no longer threatening to the consumer, according to Alexander, because it's become a part of everyday life. "The advent of the ATM did the most to make interactive marketing successful."

RIDE CONTROL, TRAINING - Ride-control products is a $1 billion market, and developing technology impacts the market today and will continue to do so into the future, according to Jeff King, director of marketing, Gabriel Ride Control products, Carol Stream, Ill.

Gas-charged products, light-truck products and MacPherson struts are mainstream ride-control technology today, said King, but adjustability is the technology beginning to come on stream.

Light-truck products are the key to growth in this segment, said King, since 30 percent of all shocks sold today are for light trucks.

Technological improvements are: manual systems, in which the customer pre-selects the ride; electronic systems, where the customer can select the kind of ride he or she wants, and the system automatically adjusts vehicle height; adaptive systems, where the vehicle automatically adjusts to driver and road stimuli; and fully active systems, where energy is added to or removed from each wheel and the system instantly senses and reacts to driver and road input.

While King said manual systems have limited additional cost and electronic systems carry "moderate" additional cost, an adaptive-system upgrade can cost $1,000-$2,500, and a high-cost, fully adaptive system can cost $5,000.

Parts proliferation plays a big role in assessing the impact of such new ride-control systems on the aftermarket. In addition, popularity of the new systems will require additional technician training at the aftermarket level; increased capital-equipment investments; more sophisticated understanding and use of electronic ride sensors; and upgrade selling.

The average American automotive technician today has a ninth-grade education and a sixth-grade reading level, said Thomas Golden, director of training for NAPA United Brake System Parts and Raybestos Brake Parts.

Those statistics -- in varying contexts -- were used and re-used throughout the conference. They're troubling in light of the fact that "today's braking systems are becoming more and more technically sophisticated," Golden said. For that reason, training is more important than ever.

Training, he told attendees is critical to the continued viability of the entire aftermarket, not just to brake products.

"Training is the key to the automotive aftermarket of today," he said, "and the future. The current indicators of advancing technology are no longer on the horizon. They are, in fact, among us as we speak today."

The imperative for high-tech training "is a fact of life for the manufacturer of automotive components...for the warehouse distributor, for the jobber and the installing dealer and technicians."

COPYRIGHT NOTICE:"Reprinted with permission from Aftermarket Business, Merchandising Supplement, October, 1991, page 32. Copyright by Advanstar Communications, Inc. Advanstar Communications, Inc. retains all rights to this material." To subscribe to Aftermarket Business, call 1-218-723-9477 or email fulfill@superfill.com.

Stephen J. Alexander is an aftermarket consultant, speaker and monthly columnist for Aftermarket Business Magazine. To learn more about other in-store merchandising and marketing issues, contact Stephen Alexander, Automotive In-Store Marketing at 239-395-9203 or e-mail him at salexander@autoinstore.com.