The trend toward large format units in the automotive aftermarket is meeting with mixed results.

The number of success stories has not been encouraging. Auto Giant failed and has been resurrected as Auto Expo. Auto Source has reconsidered expansion of its 47,000 sq. ft. format. Pep Boys 23,000-sq. ft. stores confirm that a larger format is not necessarily a better format. Auto Parts Club struggled to overcome its low margin, moderate profit position. It revamped its interior, but still resulted in looking like a warehouse with more signs.

On the flip side, GI Joe's expanded its automotive store-within-a-store approach to 25,000-sq. ft. and indicated an effort to invest the dollars necessary to create a more effective in-store environment.

PartsMart commissioned AIM Inc., an in-store marketing company dedicated totally to the automotive aftermarket, to design the most innovative total in-store merchandising and marketing design environment program ever conceived in the aftermarket, only to get cold feet at the last moment. It has replaced the concept with the opening of Everything Automotive. (See Case Study #2 on this page.)

The proposed PartsMart concept, according to AIM president Stephen Alexander and his partner, Barry Waldman, implements a six-wall approach that features:

• a stadium or amphitheater floor plan;
• a branded multiple power and aisle-end cap merchandising structure;
• special departmentalized stores-within-a-store;
• in-store advertising that ties into external advertising;
• an auto repair learning center;
• non-automotive products merchandising;
• power checkout merchandising
• dramatic store department and category signage product billboarding to use wasted space above eight feet.

Fortunately, for the aftermarket and for Alexander and Waldman, they were able to implement and improve upon many of these concepts with the opening of the Chief Auto Parts Superstore in Los Angeles this past January.

Why do some aftermarket retailers succeed and some fail?

Most superstore formats end up looking like a consumer-unfriendly distribution center. By simply adding more space, the retailer now thinks the image as a price and inventory leader has been created.

Many non-automotive chains are successful with large format retailing. These retailers have promoted the image of "learning experts." This is a concept our industry fails to grasp when implementing a similar display format.

For instance, Home Depot utilizes large organized racks to display inventory. Heavy use of graphics guides the customer through the store.

PetSmart is divided into visual zones that tell the customer exactly where the pet food is or where accessories are located. Shelf signage provides reasons to purchase one product over another.

The aftermarket has made a feeble attempt at imitating the large-format approaches of other industry segments while ignoring the differences in the customer bases and their relation to the products sold. "The typical consumer is hungry to learn something," says Waldman. "In the aftermarket, customers need help. Help to not only find what they are looking for, but help to know what to do with the product once they get it home."

The original PartsMart redesign reflected the most advanced in-store marketing techniques ever attempted in the automotive aftermarket, including a stadium or amphitheater floor plan as shown here. The displays increase in height as the customer progresses through the store.

He suggests a product demonstration area to not only entertain customers, but to educate them as well.

"We need to make the store into a theater," Alexander says. "Show customers how to do a brake job or how to apply window tint. Our industry is one that lends itself to education. We need to establish ourselves as learning experts in our market."

Also, aftermarket retailers considering the superstore concept need to do more in the way of traffic flow management. Guide the customers through the store, enhancing the possibility of add-on sales. Once that customer is guided to the display for his initial purchase, he has walked past many other areas that suggest impulse or add-on sales of other products.

Industry experts all agree, when a customer walks into a store they want to know "what's here" and "where is it." An organized store increases shopability.

For suggested methods of organizing a superstore format, see "Creating a customer-friendly environment."

"The day has passed where automotive retailers can offer low prices and a large format," Alexander and Waldman note. "We must now be aggressive in-store markets, offering on-floor assistance."

Q U I C K - R E A D Creating a customer-friendly environment Suggestions for enhancing sales in a large format: Develop a good floor plan to maximize customer traffic control. Customers should be guided through your store, not left to their own devices to locate the products they wish to find. Bring the advertising message into the store to the shelf edge. This ties the whole promotional package together. Organize product categories into departments for easier shopping. Use color groups to categorize products. With a large format this is particularly helpful. The checkout area needs to be well organized. Often this area is an afterthought. It needs to be easy to locate and provide speedy service for customers. Make better use of checkouts for high-impulse shopping. Use attractive, neatly arranged power aisles. "Brand" it - give it a name. Large format retailing provides the luxury of space. It should be used to its best advantage to promote the national brands that are carried. The parts counter should be broken down into functions; special order and parts lookup. Shelf tags need to be clear, concise and readable. They should tell the consumer something. Too often retailers worry about being graphically creative rather than informative. Knowledgeable employees should have a neat appearance and create the image they enjoy working there.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE:"Reprinted with permission from Aftermarket Business, July, 1994, page 6. 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.