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October 1996 |
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| Hard Parts Retailing |
| Interview by: Lynn Matthews, Contributing Editor |
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| Stephen J. Alexander |
A well-stocked, well-merchandised hard parts line is pivotal to the success of any automotive parts store. It doesn’t matter what your retail and wholesale mix is, if your store is not committed to the hard parts market, then your store is not serious about the automotive aftermarket.
According to Stephen Alexander, owner of Automotive In-Store Marketing Inc., hard parts is the financial heart of any store. Yet so many retailers fail to give these products the “star” status they deserve.
Dominic Velotta, vice president of sales for Anchor Industries Inc., says their hard parts product line which includes engine and transmission mounts are not typically do-it-yourselfer items but are doing well in the retail segment.
“Despite the necessity to have some mechanical abilities to replace these parts, the sales activity that we see at our retail level is pretty impressive,” explains Velotta.
Velotta says both retail and wholesale automotive parts operations need to expose their businesses to the whole market spectrum of automotive replacement parts. “You cannot rule out areas of your market and say ‘that’s not what I want to be in,’ “adds Velotta. “If you’re in the parts business, you have to find whose buying them and make those parts available to all aspects of the market.”
Technological advances in automotive system designs have hampered do-it-yourselfer sales in recent years. “Our product line has traditionally been a DIYer item,” says Mick Jordan, director of sales at Cloyes Gear Company. “But it, too, has become more complex. Traditionally what was a two- or three-part application in some cases has become nine or 10 parts.”
Aftermarket marketing specialists also blame today’s society for much of the demise of the DIYer. With today’s so-called “graying” of America as baby boomers hit their 50th birthdays, we’ve become a “do-it-for-me” society. But economics will have the final say in determining the future of the DIYer. With the average new car selling around $20,000, used car sales are continuing to grow. And it will be the offspring of these baby boomer who will fill the DIYer niche.
As in the past, DIYers and shade tree mechanics never cease to amaze automotive aftermarket product designers and engineers. Despite all these technical advances, DIYers always find a way to get through today’s technical maze. The retailer who will prosper the most in the area of hard parts will be the one who can serve both the professional and the DIYer customer just as well.
It will be up to today’s retailer and suppliers of these parts to get both of these groups into the hard parts mood. Unfortunately, the average consumer rarely thinks about hard parts until his or her car needs one.
According to Nick Behrendt, National Sales and Marketing Manager at Melling Tool Co., hard parts, especially internal engine parts, are better known as “disaster items.”
“You don’t buy them because they’re on sale,” adds Behrendt. “You only buy them when yours is broken.” Yet suppliers of these products are taking a second look at how they’re marketing these “disaster” products, and they have added special features and new twists to their hard parts lines to keep these products profitable at the professional installer and DIYer levels.
Getting into the fast lane
One of the best ways to get your product noticed is to go where car enthusiasts love to meet—the race track. Companies like Raybestos/Brake Parts Inc. and Enginetech Inc. have aligned themselves with the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) and the International Race of Champions (IROC), respectively. “We’re the official brakes of NASCAR,” says Mike Florito, manager of advertising and sales promotion of Raybestos. “Our target audience is the NASCAR audience and the racing enthusiast, so our product was a natural fit.”
Raybestos’ BootStop friction has a street performance design which features better stopping ability and more feel. The packaging also features the NASCAR logo. “When we introduced the program initially sales were less than dramatic,”
Admits Florito. “Since we introduced the NASCAR logo on the packaging, sales of these items have been phenomenal.”
For the past five years, Enginetech has been the official supplier of piston rings and bearings to the IROC racing series. “In all the years we’ve supplied them, they’ve never had a failure,” says Steve Orthwein, marketing manager for Enginetech. Besides the racing enthusiast, Orthwein says their product audience is mainly the engine rebuilder.
“From our standpoint, everything we manufacturer is primary designed with the rebuilder in mind,” says Orthwein. Orthwein says Enginetech has incorporated special features in their products to make the job easier for the rebuilder. According to Orthwein, Enginetech’s Rebuilder’s valve is so unique that it’s patented. The valve stems have been standardized so that rebuilders only need to stock four reamers to machine any guide. Orthwein says their products are designed to save the rebuilder time and money.
“When we came into this business, there were a lot of people selling pistons, so we began packaging our pistons in matched balanced sets and placed a science grading and actually stamped a piston size on the top of every piston,” explains Orthwein.
“When a rebuilder pulled them out of a box, he didn’t have to measure them. Since then, all our competitors started doing this, too.” Enginetech’s Engine Builders’ Kit also provides ease and convenience to the rebuilder by including more parts than most competitive sets.
Also, playing on the convenience factor, Perfect Circle has introduced a new OE-style rear camber and toe adjuster that makes alignment adjustments quick and easy on 1986-95 Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable cars. Traditionally, rear camber and toe adjustments on these vehicles has been a headache for technicians. Lack of adjustment range or adjuster kits often creates chassis noise or increase ride harshness. “The camber adjustment range of plus or minus 3/4° allows the technician to align the rear of the car to factory specifications. The toe adjustment range is plus or minus 2 degrees,” says Mike Jones, chassis marketing manager for the Dana Automotive Sales Division which markets Perfect Circle chassis and engine parts to the domestic aftermarket. “Customers can expect far less uneven or cupped wear on their expensive tires.”
A little creative packaging goes a long way
Marketers of hard parts and their related counterparts have found that a little creative packaging can increase the selling power of their product.
For example, Victor Reinz is now packaging gasket head sets and full sets in shrink wrapped, “viewable” trays intended to protect the gaskets and make them easy to identify the gaskets in the tray. In addition to packaging sets in the viewable trays, head gaskets in the set are further protected with individual clear plastic envelopes inside the tray.
Cloyes Gear & Products, Inc. has also given its line of Heavy Duty timing chain sets a bold new look by enclosing them in ‘”clamshell” clear plastic packaging featuring bold four-color printing on the label card. It can be reopened and re-sealed so the customer can check out the timing set.
Know your market
If you want to sell hard parts, you have to know your market. Behrendt says it’s important to know the demographics of your region.
“You need to know the vehicle registration in your area, the age of the vehicles and other specifics to that region,” says Behrendt. For example, Behrendt says if you live in Springfield, MO, there is a high concentration of old pickup trucks. “If you want to sell engine parts, you need to pay attention to the vehicles on your streets.”
A burgeoning market for the aftermarket parts specialist is the light truck market. During the past 10 years, no category of vehicles has dominated the auto market like light trucks. According to J.D. Power and Associates, light truck sales now account for nearly 43 percent of new vehicle sales in the country.
The segment, which incorporates minivans and sport utility vehicles (SUV) as well as light trucks, saw new vehicle sales increase from 4.6 million in 1986 to more than 6.1 million in 1995.
“It’s become very obvious from the growth of this market that Americans aren’t driving the way they used to,” says Pete Painter, director of marketing for Wagner Brake Products.
“They use their pickups, minivans and SUVs to get to work, but also to take the kids to soccer, to haul the boat to the lake, and to bring the lumber home for the new deck. Because their driving needs have changed, their braking needs have changed,” adds Painter.
Wagner Brake, with its new ThermoQuiet LT ä line of disc brake pads, is the first to develop and market a line of friction products exclusively for pickup, minivan, and SUV market. These 100 percent asbestos-free brake pads provide quiet, high-temperature performance in high-heat and high-stress applications.
Also catering to the light truck market, Perfect Circle has introduced an Adjustable Bushing designed specifically to provide a full range of camber and caster adjustment for several 4WD trucks. The new bushings are available to fit 1980-95 full sized Ford 4WD trucks and 1994-95 Dodge 2500 and 3500 4WD trucks. A second bushing fits 1982-90 Ford 4WD Ranger and Bronco II trucks.
Giving hard parts their rightful place
Bold product packaging, design enhancements and target marketing have helped retailers market these hard part products. But merely displaying these products on your store shelves is not enough. It’s up to the savvy retailer to really deliver the goods.
Alexander is in the business of making stores look and sell their best. His company does everything from total store design to ongoing merchandising programs. Their specialty is the total in-store environment.
Probably one of the greatest obstacles towards achieving success in the hard parts sales is that a store fails to create the “we sell hard parts” statement. And that’s where Alexander’s firm steps in.
For example at one retail chain operation, the challenge was to make the hard parts department the dominant focal point. Alexander says they changed the name of the parts counter, the most important revenue producer in the store to a parts center.
The parts center was strategically placed in the middle of the store and was surrounded by signage suspended from the ceiling which not only told the customer it was the parts center but also listed all the services that the parts store provided.
Also, the hard parts were brought from the back room and placed in the aisles. They were also taken out of their boxes and grouped in displays representing the various mechanical systems of a vehicle – brake systems, emissions, and engine departments.
“The parts center now reaches new heights and becomes a point of education,” adds Alexander. “Now the customer has a complete picture of the breadth of the services and products in one sweep of the eye.”
Alexander says aisles are arranged in a hub and spoke format, so that those who work in the center can see down every aisle and as you enter the store that power aisle leads directly to the parts center.
“The parts center is the hub, and that’s where all the money is going to be made, so you make the process of shopping for something like hard parts as pleasant and as quick as possible,” adds Alexander.
Whatever the size of your parts store, it’s often the simple, inexpensive touches that can set you ahead of everyone else. Alexander offers the following common sense tips: relatively inexpensive ways to make a dramatic change.
Consumers who shop in automotive stores today demand and expect the store to be neat, clean, and well organized. Old fashion elbow grease costs next to nothing. Keep stores totally clean, dust-free, keep shelves painted, dress up the surface areas so at least it looks bright and fresh.
The signage should be instructive and informative. Consumers are not interested in walking aimlessly down aisles searching for what they need. They know that when you walk into a store that’s just simply cleaned up and nothing else you have the alphabetical blur. It all blends together. If you’re on a limited budget, you can spend a small amount of money on decent signage.
Pay attention to the lighting. Light the store well and brightly. Lighten the floor. Don’t darken it. Don’t worry if you have to wax once in a while. Provide as much light reflectivity. Also, don’t go to a gray or dull floor. The best prices and the cleanest store in town don’t mean anything if you don’t have competent and knowledgeable people working behind your parts counter or parts center.
“The more educated your customer/sales people are, the better the performance will be on the sales of those items,” says Alexander.
Behrendt says if you want to sell hard parts, it’s critical that stores employ personnel who know and understand these products. “You can’t take someone off the street who doesn’t have any experience or very little mechanical aptitude, put them at the counter and expect him to deal with a mechanical aptitude, put them at the counter and expect him to deal with a mechanic who is coming into buy a part,” says Behrendt. “Experience or training is probably, if not the most, the second most important item that relates to the sale of these products,” he adds.
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.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE:"Reprinted with permission from Aftermarket Business, October, 1996, 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.
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