WINTER PREP & BACK-TO-SCHOOL
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INVENTORY — STOCK UP EARLY When the chilly temperatures around the country
set in, mobile electronics retailers tend to get busy with remote start and security, but you don’t want to
find that you haven’t prepped with enough product. For Scott Jones, owner of Bristolville, Ohio-based Kaan Tech- nologies, the inventory planning for security/remote start is a key part of the fourth-quarter planning, and it has to be done early. “Based on where we are, we have to be ready and have all of our stock in place by October 1,” he says. “When the first snowflake hits, that is when our phone starts ringing.” “We have our inventory in order early so we’re not forced to do it at the last minute,” agrees Jim Sullivan, owner of Audiocarve, located in Newport, Vermont. “August and September is when we buy inventory so that we are ready by October 1. We don’t want to have to scramble at that point since we see a huge jump in business. Winter is our specialty season with remote start.”
a smart time to have a brain-storming session with your staff. Of course, this can be done any time of year, but getting to- gether prior to the holiday selling season with your employees and managers gives you a chance to discuss staffing, potential store events, or car shows that you want to host on certain weekends. It’s also a great time to hire extra staff depending on the size of your business. You may need extra help if you have extended hours. The fourth quarter is also an important time to lay the ground-
work for the upcoming year — to think ahead and be ready to take advantage of opportunities like post-holiday sales events. While the fourth quarter is still one of the busiest times of the year, it cannot be counted on to bring in the bulk of business anymore. Retailers stress the importance of marketing and pro- motions year-round and targeting other holidays. “The fourth quarter is not that spectacular for us,” says Miles Cox, owner of East Carolina Custom Cars, located in Washing-
“Based on where we are, we have to be ready and have all of our stock in place by October 1. When the first snowflake hits, that is when our phone starts ringing.”
2-Minute Drill: 5 Gotta-Dos to Be Ready for the 4th Quarter Holiday prep and plans for this quarter can help you ring out the year on the right note.
By Jamie Sorcher J
ust like a dedicated athlete holed up at the gym doing two-a-days for an upcoming competition, retailers must also step up their game during the all-important fourth quarter/holiday season. Although not every mobile electronics retailer sees this time of the year as its busiest, it is still a huge opportunity to boost sales, gain new clients and build loyalty with your existing customers. According to Chicago-based ShopperTrak, a provider of re-
tail and mall-foot-traffic counting services, retailers definitely rely on the time frame between Thanksgiving and Christmas to make up as much as 20 percent of their annual take. While a tough economy and cost-conscious customer are still
a part of the landscape, Black Friday, the traditional start to the holiday shopping season, had sales in 2011 that increased 6.6 percent from the year prior. With more than $11 billion spent
22 Mobile Electronics Survival Guide 2012
in retail purchases, it made this the biggest dollar amount ever spent on a Black Friday. The now-established Cyber Monday is another huge shopping
day for consumers who are looking for deals and discounts, but online. Free shipping has sweetened the deal for many folks who would rather skip the trip to the store or the mall. According to Reston, Va.-based comScore, a company that measures digital business analytics, online retail spending reached $50 billion for the fourth quarter of 2011, a 14 per- cent jump from the year before. Among the top performing online product categories: consumer electronics. With customers shopping in your stores and online, what can you do to prep for the fourth quarter and beyond? We surveyed several retailers and put together a mini checklist of Gotta-Dos so you can have a merry mobile holiday season.
“We might do a sub/amp package on the higher end so we’ll bring in a few of those,” says Gary Goodman, owner of Good- man Auto Radio, which is located in Bryn Mawr, Pa. “And we also make sure that we have plenty of gift certificates in stock.”
PROMOTIONS — BUDGET FOR GIVEAWAYS AND LOCAL ADVER- TISING IN EARLY NOVEMBER Holiday promotions now begin as early as Novem- ber 1. Right after Halloween, the majority of retail stores and major malls are decorated with all the trimmings so customers are trained to start thinking about the holidays, putting together wish lists and gathering gift ideas. Promotions are a perfect incentive — whether it’s a giveaway, dis-
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count, or raffle — to get customers into your store or online to shop. It can be as simple as offering free shipping to entice consumers to check out your new web site or to make a purchase online. You can also take advantage of your location. “We’re located right near the Long Island railroad commuter lots so we’ll go out and put flyers on all of the cars,” says Antoine Sinclair, owner of A/V Mobile Sound & Security of Baldwin, N.Y. “We’ll do a number of things during the holidays like run bay specials, do an e-mail blast, post on Facebook, and do some small ads in the local PennySaver.” While you’re planning your promotions, late October is also
ton, N.C. “Our busy time is tax time. We’re busiest from January to February and right into March. When people get their tax refunds, that’s when we get additional business.” Sinclair of A/V Mobile Sound & Security said he also finds
tax season to be a big motivator for clients to come in and fix up their cars. “During the holidays we know that customers expect to see something, so it is an opportunity to run holiday specials and bargains.
Christmas time is definitely big for remote start, but you also need to take advantage of all the other holidays like President’s Day Weekend. This is another time that people are looking for specials and deals.”
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EMAIL — BUILD/UPDATE YOUR DATABASE, SEND OUT A NEWSLETTER, SUGGEST HOLIDAY SERVICES OR GIFTS One of the most effective ways to reach consum- ers is still reliable, accessible email. During the fall,
retailers should plan to update their database. Late October or early November are the optimum times to send out an e-mail with your holiday hours (if you have extended opening or closing times) or even a top-10 list of gift suggestions. Constant Contact (
constantcontact.com), an online market- ing company based in Waltham, Mass., is a great place to start if you haven’t gotten onboard with a strong email program. It
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