The new look, redesigned Service Dealer magazine is now bi-monthly and includes a host of new and familiar features.
Jan / Feb 2014 issue contains:
2014 STATE OF THE INDUSTRY REPORT HERITAGE AWARDS PROFILE OF DAVID WITHERS LIVES REMEMBERED BTME PREVIEW LAMMA PREVIEW DIARY OF A SEASON + 2014 EVENT PLANNER
SLOPPING AND SHOPPING Weather and the economy - once again
Happy New Year! It is always odd how the excitement and anticipation of Christmas soon disapates into the reality of January. A New Year, resolutions. deep breath, ‘here we go again’ territory . .
Looking back in my diary, we were knee-deep in snow in mid-January last year. This year we are . . well knee-deep.
Last night, I stayed overnight in a Thames-side hotel in Oxfordshire. I might as well been in Brighton or Bournemouth, there was water for as far as you could see. Except that there are very few houses poking up in the middle of English Channel or The Solent.
Once again, the weather dictates our everyday lives - and influences business life. Who would be in the forecasting business? I met up with Dan Ariens at Countax early last year, and he was bemoaning the lack of snow in the US in recent years. The company turned round a year ago with an overstock of more than 25,000 snow blowers. Today, Ariens is reporting a 7000 back-order and is working 24-hour shifts, six days a week to try and meet demand. “As things stand,” says Dan Ariens, “we could sell 20,000 more machines”.
So should the Polar Vortex make its way across the Atlantic, don’t off-load any snow blowers you bought in - just in case. For you are unlikely to get many more if the wet stuff turns to the white stuff.
But then weather is transient - just like the economy.
How fascinating have been the results from all the leading retail chains over Christmas. They say it was an odd run-up to Christmas - but then every year seems to have reasons to be cheerful, and reasons to be sad.
As an industry, we generally don’t get caught up in the maelstrom of the Christmas ‘battleground’. But one interview with a leading retailer, Andy Street, md of John Lewis, crystalised the challenges facing by all retailers, no matter their size or speciality.
He described the current model for a successful retail business as ‘brick and clicks’. Christmas 2013, saw another huge surge in on-line buying, but nonetheless Mr Street insisted that branch presence was essential to support on-line success. With around 40 stores currently, John Lewis are aggressively looking to add another 20+ more “so that our customers can experience the real benefits of ‘touch and feel’ with the benefits of being able to buy online.
And today we have learned that one in five purchases were made on line this Christmas - 20% and rapidly growing.
The scale may be different, but there are as many messages in there for the small, specialist dealer, as there are for the ‘big-boys’ where the stakes are much, much higher.
