A short poll of retailers, reps and suppliers found that store traffic is down significantly at most 12 volt stores around the country.
The trend started in April and worsened in May, by many accounts.
Reps that we polled said 50 to 80 percent of their dealers have seen traffic fall off.
Pete Daley of Marketing Pros Inc, TX estimates that 80 percent of dealers in the region have seen lower traffic and that sales at car audio shops in the region are down by 30 percent from last year.
Some said the usual sales bump from tax returns never hit. Many families did not get as large a tax refund this year due to changes in how the child tax credit was dispersed. Add to that inflation and the war in Ukraine, and many consumers are tightening their belts on spending.
Ed Delasandro of The End Result, PA said 70 percent of dealers in his area are experiencing a slow down. “The others are more aggressive on social media, or they have a different clientelle–the truck crowd, or people that want to get out and don’t care about the money. Those people are still spending.”
We found differing opinions on spending and traffic by well-heeled customers.
One retailer located in a wealthy suburb of NYC said even the rich are impacted. They may not feel the pinch of high gas prices, but their stock portfolios are down. Depot Auto Sound, White Plains, NY has seen its store traffic fall by 25 percent in April and 50 percent in May. “One guy just told me he took a 25 percent hit on his portfolio,” said owner Harry Lichtman. Otherwise, he’s unsure of the cause of the slowdown. “I’m hunkering down, but I have a positive attitude.”
Meanwhile, dealer stock rooms are filled to the brim when it comes to amplifiers and speakers, said industry members. While shortages continue in head units, most (but not all) amplifiers and speakers have become available and dealer backorders have been filled.
Daley added, “Retailers are stocked to the gills and obviously they are not getting sell through because consumer traffic is not there.”
One supplier confirming the trend is Epsilon, which said sales of the lower end radios in the $99 to $149 range have trailed off as these consumers are impacted by inflation. But it can’t keep $700 radios in stock as the wealthy consumers are still spending.
Have dealers in FL/MD/TX & IL still has good foot traffic and are booked out to early July & their still buying goods these are average customers upgrading their used cars since new cars have become overpriced. I’m expecting soon if we hit more inflation, I can see these dealers slowing
Harry nailed it… Review the wild swings (mostly down, some up providing some false comfort) in the market and you can see that people are being reminded of the 2000 and 2008 craziness in the economy.
been said before money in the bank vs money on the shelf.