What’s Happening
Future Forecast
How can retailers stay ahead of the game? Industry professionals discussed recent trends, store culture and connecting with consumers during KnowledgeFestWest.Live. WORDS BY ROSA SOPHIA
Keynote addresses at KnowledgeFest have always focused on current events, issues and trends. This year, although two events were held entirely online, each keynote provided industry perspectives and useful advice for business owners and other professionals to take and apply to their shops. During the Friday keynote for KnowledgeFestWest.Live, Dave Elkin of DOW Technologies shared how the company has responded to product shortages and challenges within the past year that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic. Elkin advised listeners to focus on what they are able to control instead of what they can’t. Working on the business, he said, involves taking a step back and perceiving it from the eyes of the customer. While economic impacts and difficulties in the market certainly affect businesses,
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retailers can still work to improve and make positive change. During Sunday’s keynote address—the CMA Live KnowledgeFest Roundtable hosted by Ben Woo—Chris Cook, president of MEA, said his biggest concern are the shops currently struggling to get better. “If you can’t market yourself, you won’t be successful as a retailer or as a human being. I don’t worry about businesses like Five Star Car Stereo or Traffic Jams Motorsports—I worry about the 1.5- to two-star stores that are trying to improve,” he said, adding, “What keeps me up at night are the retailers who can be better…but choose not to be.” Incorporating the ADAS Category During the past year, experts in the industry have continued to recommend shops expand into ADAS (Advanced
Driver Assistance Systems). During Saturday’s keynote address, “Aftermarket Safety: Should You Dabble or Dive Deep?”, Cook interviewed Steve Witt of Driver Safety Technology. Witt noted that one of the biggest things retailers should keep in mind is that many consumers still don’t know they can incorporate these technologies into their vehicles. Because of this, Witt said, “I want to encourage the retailers who are listening to look at how you could become the experts in your market.” The first step, he said, is to become very intentional and build a strategy. “Start to create that culture and create that awareness.” Stores, he added, must let customers know they can acquire blind spot detection from them, blind spot cameras and lane departure, to name a few technologies. “Start the promotion even just locally,” he said, “and that will start to build the awareness.” He explained that such promotions will “dovetail” with big automakers’ efforts, as well as online advertising and content marketing focused on these products. Of course, technicians need to know how to install these technologies, and Cook asked Witt if he felt that educating installers would be a hurdle to overcome. Learning how to work with these technologies, Witt explained, is no different than applying oneself to learning anything else new in the industry. “Think about 25 years ago when highend amplifier and speaker manufacturers said there’s big business in subwoofers,” he said. “What did we do? We had to learn the fabrication and principles of
