Sound impossible? Ready to start writing furious comments, then you’re ready to have a real conversation about our industry. Throughout social media and Mobile Electronic publications, we have seen dozens of retailers step up their game by creating boutique stores and installation bays utilizing all the latest installation techniques catering to automotive enthusiasts. But what about the customers that do not come to these stores or buy elsewhere, how likely are they to come into your store?
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past ten years, online sales are growing at an alarming rate and taking money out of our brick and mortar stores. Look at Radio Shack, Circuit City, and Bestbuy. Radio Shack, is in bankruptcy, Circuit City is gone and Bestbuy had to do a major restructuring of their store’s culture and core business practices. Did you know that an article in Forbes, has Bestbuy growing by 17% in Q4 this year in online sales?
Let’s have an honest look in the mirror, people don’t buy from us for only three reasons, I call it the three “P”s:
- Price – They found it somewhere at a lower price
- Product – They did not or were not shown the features they were looking for
- Personality – They did not like your store or the salesperson
Really take a moment to think about the three “P”s, have you ever wanted to buy something, and when you got to the store, something made you not buy. These examples are about people who came into your store, what about the people we never see, the online shoppers.
The other factor to consider is, people are more comfortable sitting in their pajamas reading reviews and purchasing in the security of their home then talking to a salesperson. The “Ace” up our sleeve in the 12-Volt industry is, they need it installed and they need parts!
Remember, “These customers are not your customers, they have already chosen to buy somewhere else.” So why not try to get them in your store. The online shopper is already your best customer, why? They already like car audio, they have a credit card and they need parts to install it. Another huge bonus of this customer is, the possibility of an add-on sale, for example, a steering wheel adaptor, back up camera, sub boxes and any other categories of products in your store. How much would you pay to have a customer with these qualities in your store?
To get online shoppers in your store, you must go where the customers are, online. Place a banner on your website stating, “Amazon Certified Installation Center” or “eBay Certified Installation Center”. Then start using Facebook Ads, not showing your latest specials or installations, make sure your ads state “Bought your electronics online, we would love to help you install it. We will test the equipment and provide any parts you need to install it yourself” (of course you can word this any way you like, but you get the idea). Only spend $20 a week on this ad, but target ages 20-35 (this is the biggest demographic buying online). Why not state “we install audio products purchased online” because we don’t want to scare them off, we want to help them with their purchase. Once they are in the store, then we can talk to them about installing it if they don’t feel comfortable. If you can get one person off a Facebook Ad to buy parts for a head-unit installation you will make $450 off one sale! Let’s break it down:
- Data Retention Harness $250
- Back up Camera $100
- Steering Wheel Adaptor $100
These are reasonable expectations for “one” customer from a $20 ad. That means $80.00 a month in ads, is $1800 in sales with four, yes four customers. Keep in mind, this customer already has the expectation to buy, after all, they are coming down to your store to buy their parts! For your math gurus out there, that’s $21,600 in sales in one year. We are not shooting for the moon here, this is a very obtainable goal. If you don’t know how to do Facebook Ads, sign up for our monthly newsletter at www.canadiancarstereo.com and I will send you a video on how to do place ads designed for the 12-volt market in your area. Guys, as salespeople, we waste $20 a week on all sorts of stupid stuff. For $20 dollars a week, you can create a new category in your store. Imagine if you could get one of these customers to have their online product installed, $200 x 12 months is $2400. That is $21,600 + $2400 = $24,000 for $1040 in advertising. The biggest, BIGGEST thing to remember is, your ads are running 24 hours a day even when your closed…that’s the cheapest salesperson you will ever hire. What if you ran ads “Do you have any used mobile audio equipment? We would love to help you install it yourself”. Once again, this is not your customer, these are new customers but the used customer already enjoys car audio, let’s get them into your store. Show them the newest products, like Apple CarPlay!
By catering to “online and used product” customers, with the goal of one customer a week from each of these new categories the potential business is $48,000 for $2080 in advertising. This is how we increase your 12-volt business by fifteen percent in 45 days by creating a whole new category for your store.
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