Truck Parts and Service | Heavy Duty Trucking, Aftermarket, Service Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/665998
14 aftermarket, the recent surge in the popularity and profi tability of retail showrooms was customer driven. Information accessibility was one reason for the change. Because today's customers can get online and research any product, in any industry, at any time, they have the abil- ity to enter stores armed with consider- ably more information about their needs than at any point in the past. In the aftermarket this means custom- ers can enter distributor facilities not questioning what they need but knowing well in advance. And just like a trip to the grocery store, when a customer knows exactly what they need, they don't like to wait. Retail space dramatically eliminates that hassle. It allows customers the freedom to fi nd their component and head directly to purchasing — bypass- ing time at a parts counter waiting for a warehouse employee to pick and deliver the part. And in a world where downtime equals lost revenue, every minute saved matters. But quicker retail experiences is only one reason for the aftermarket's recent retail movement. Arguably the biggest selling point for distributors and cus- tomers alike is impulsive purchasing. Because retail space opens a win- dow for a customer into a distributor's inventory, it allows customers access to products they might not have otherwise known they wanted, products they might not have known a distributor sold. And related components they needed, and might not have otherwise remembered when entering a store. Retail facilities remind customers that an independent distributor has every- thing they could ever need. "You want to move a customer through a purchase subconsciously," Hill says. The strategy has worked wonders at Action Truck Parts, says Vice President and Sales Manager Nick Seidel. Like many distributors, Seidel says Action Truck Parts was a quintessential warehouse distributor before trans- forming its facility into a retail-centric operation. He says the company wasn't averse to merchandising product — it has nearly 9,000 sq. ft. of retail space — but it wasn't a priority. Things fi nally started to change at Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week 2015. "We came out [to HDAW] and saw some of the suppliers' merchandis- ing displays and were interested but we weren't sure how to proceed. So we started talking to them and tried to fi nd who would help us," Seidel says. After a busy week gauging interest and earning vendor support, Seidel and Car- los Solis, parts and marketing manager, sat down on the last night of the conven- tion and developed a strategy. "It was one of those late-night napkin plans," says Seidel. "We covered everything. If we were going to do this we had to make sure we understood every aspect of it," adds Solis. "The suppliers had to commit to it. Our salespeople had to know the products. We had to get everyone on board and rolling and in one direction so there was no one thing that was going to catch us." The duo then returned to their T R U C K P A R T S & S E R V I C E | A p r i l 2 0 1 6 Cover Story The suppliers had to commit to it. Our salespeople had to know the products. We had to get everyone on board and rolling and in one direction so there was no one thing that was going to catch us. – Carlos Solis, parts and marketing manager, Action Truck Parts Action Truck Parts and Phillips Industries worked together to design and build this expansive product display at Action's Bolingbrook, Ill., location.