MESA, the Mobile Electronics Specialists of America buying/marketing group, presented a snapshot of the state of the car audio market at its annual Summit this week.
The car audio collective said member inventories have returned to general pre-pandemic levels, as retailers have worked through the over-inventoried positions that followed COVID.
Sales overall for MESA retail members are mixed.
Ryan Gunter, the lively Executive Director of MESA, likened this year to watching the Australian break dancing at the Olympics– in other words, head scratching. “Some members are down, some are up. Now things are staring to pick up,” He added, “We are averaging about 12 percent above what the industry is doing now year to date. That comes back to the fact that we continue to promote.”
According to MESA member surveys, about 80 percent of members said store traffic is down.
Fifty eight percent said average ticket sales are up and 42 percent said they are down.
Fifty five percent said labor dollars are up and 45 percent said they are down.
Ninety percent of members said that inventory is now back to normal.
Gunter told members, “One thing we see across the board is those who are having success are continuing to market, continuing to advertise when business is slow. The best thing you can do is promote, whether [customers] are coming in now or coming in later, they are seeing your ads.”
MESA, which offers many “sale in a box” digital and in-store banners and materials offered the following marketing statistics:
- Members have sent 148 sale campaign emails this year that reached an estimated 1.6 million subscribers (for event sales such as a Father’s Day Sale).
- Members have sent 617 overall newsletter campaigns this year, reaching an estimated 6 million subscribers (on topics such as why window film is not just good for your car but protects your skin).
MESA has 169 retail members, representing 200 store fronts with a collective $450 million in sales.
Photo: (left to right) Ryan Gunter, Executive Director of MESA; Fadi Issa, President of Custom Sounds and Mike Cofield, CEO of Custom Sounds and President of MESA.
