retail news
Audio Works Balances Product Delays with Customer Satisfaction WORDS BY LAURA KEMMERER Like many other industry businesses, Newark, Delaware-based Audio Works, which has been in business for over 20 years, has been striving to strike a healthy balance between dealing with product delays while also bringing in customers. Since the pandemic started, the vehicles they’ve been working on have remained largely the same, but there has been an uptick in add-on sales. According to shop owner Darren Thomas, Audio Works aims to cater to as many customers as possible. Thomas noted that customers used to
18 Mobile Electronics February 2021
come in and get the “bare bones minimum, but now it seems like everyone wants to buy a lot of things. It’s usually packages. Whether it be a lift kit with wheels and tires, […] to go along with lighting upgrades, customers are spending more money.” Since the beginning of the pandemic, the shop’s customer base has largely stayed the same except for this additional spending. Thomas added that a change in customer purchasing habits has led to a huge uptick in back-up cameras. Business for remote starts has held consistent due to the chilly
winter season in the Northeast. Thomas estimated that Audio Works does five back-up cameras a day, and work for the Drone add-on for remote starts has doubled since last year. Tires and lift kits have also helped the shop flourish. Audio Works has had to contend with product delays, with some material still on backorder from March 2020, but the big problem the shop is having right now is getting in radios, speakers and Tonneau covers. To deal with these delays, the shop has been telling customers that they’ll be the first ones to have these products when they come in.
