Crutchfield is Killing It

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Crutchfield sales strong in pandemic

At a time when many car audio dealers are closed and others have seen sales cut by as much as 70 percent, online retailer Crutchfield has experienced a surge in home audio sales and is maintaining healthy car audio business, said industry members.

Crutchfield’s home audio sales increased in March and into the first week of April, reaching “holiday like sales levels,” according to several industry members.

Car audio sales were also said to be strong but not as robust as in home audio. Two suppliers said Crutchfield car audio orders were even with past years.

And in recent days, as consumers receive stimulus money, Crutchfield’s car audio sales are spiking, said one leading industry executive.

Crutchfield would not comment directly on its sales.  Senior Director of Mobile Merchandising Carl Mathews said, “…I will say that we are managing the COVID-19 related changes to our business as best we can so far.  We hope other specialty retailers make it through these tough times okay.  The business of specialty retailing of consumer electronics is already fragile…”

As one leading industry member noted overall, “With so many retail stores closed, the online sector has performed very well.”

Among car audio’s larger chains, almost all of Seattle based Car Toys 48 stores are closed, and 800 of its workers furloughed at present.  Phoenix based Audio Express’ 25 stores (including Quality Auto Sound locations) are closed.  Charlotte, NC-based Freemans Car Stereo locations are operating on a limited basis and just a couple of Austin, TX-based Custom Sounds locations are closed.

A Mobile Electronics Assoc. poll of over 100 retailers found that slightly more than a third of car audio retail shops were closed, but reps in several territories said they believed that at least half of all retailers have temporarily shut their brick and mortar locations.

Crutchfield’s surge in home audio sales would be consistent with predictions by research firm Parks Associates, which forecast a jump in headphone and earbud sales as we shelter at home.  “Everyone in the household now needs their own headphones and earbuds for privacy during this time of shelter-in-place orders and work-at-home mandates,” said Steve Nason, Research Director. “Following this initial wave of purchases, users will look to integrate these standalone products with their smart speakers and other connected devices in the home. This trend was already underway with the gradual dissolution of the ‘home theater system’ concept, and now households feature a collection of different audio products, brands, and devices that must work together to deliver a seamless user experience.”

A CNBC poll of buying patterns in the pandemic found that 50 percent of consumers are avoiding stores of all types.   Of those buying online, 16 percent expect to purchase electronics or appliances (see chart below).

Best Buy stated that it had an initial boost in sales (mainly of freezers and computer monitors) when people first began sheltering at home and then sales dropped off.  However, Best Buy’s US online sales were up 250 percent as of April 15, it reported.

 

consumer buying patterns in COVID pandemic

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3 Comments

  1. Love Crutchfield and the great people that work there. Customer service and low price keeps me going back. I’ve been a long time customer and.they have always bent over backwards to make me happy.

  2. Thanks for the Head’s up…. when our company opens back up and figures out how to safely work in people’s vehicles…. our NEW LABOR RATE’s for INTERNET product will now jump to $125.00 per hour…. and if you started trying to install it yourself and couldn’t figure it out….. Heaven Help you ! Don’t let this article get you mad – smile anticipating your chance to profit from this!

    And as for our business’s – we didn’t get them to where they are by worrying about “The Other Guys” Keeping our head’s up – and exceptional customer service – will always win. More than EVER people are going to appreciate PEOPLE.

    Stay Strong and Stay Safe.

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