Providing access to all Jeremy Smith of SR Smith: “I’ve worked in the pool industry for over 15 years now. My parents are American and I’ve got dual citizenship. SR Smith was a start-up entity here in Australia originally. We started out as a small business with a lot of good backing behind us. The first few years were hard slog, but I’ve really enjoyed working for SR Smith. How’s business, both in Australia and the USA? It’s really good! There have been a lot of negatives from a business perspective due to coronavirus, but demand in both our residential and commercial categories has been overwhelming. Last year was our biggest growth year since we’ve been in Australia. We’ve experienced overwhelming growth for the past twelve months. When we first came into the market, a lot of our products were not commonly accepted – particularly our residential items which are high ticket products which haven’t traditionally been found in retail outlets – our waterslides for example can range from between $2,000 and $7,000.
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So initially pool shops resisted offering our products or displaying them, but we overcame this by focussing on digital marketing to consumers and basically pulling the demand through from the back end. Then pool shops and builders realised that there was demand and they started seeking them out. At the end of October last year, we had completely sold out of all stock in our warehouse and on the water pre-Christmas. All of the slides – and we had ordered a considerable volume – we had sold out by the end of October and we are still fulfilling back orders in March. This is definitely due to people not holidaying or travelling overseas and wanting to spend money on their backyards, but there’s also a shift in what people think about our products, and that they should be offered at the point of sale by the builders. It’s an easy option to include some in-pool furniture if they are building a sun shelf or a water-slide for a young family. Our products in the past haven’t made a lot of sense to people but now builders are realising that they can easily offer them and leave the decision up to the consumer. In the past there was a bit of gate-keeping going on.
AQUA talks to Jeremy Smith of SR Smith about the overwhelming growth of the business that provides ‘access to all’.
From 15 years in product development within the industry, I know that if you walked into a pool shop fifteen years ago and said to someone, “One day you’re going to sell a pool cleaner for $2,500,” they would laugh you out of the shop. Pools shops have become a really good destination for high ticket items such as variable speed pumps, robotic cleaners and sanitisation products. K-Mart has taken the inflatables and other companies have taken some of the chemical business but that’s where our products fit in nicely for s pool shop and a pool builder.
What trends do you see emerging? In-pool furniture is becoming very popular. Lounges mainly. This ties in with pool design as there is a current focus on creating different sections of the pool that appeals to different age groups. We make in-pool tables and stools plus lounges that can be removed from the pool and used on an adjacent deck. Last year was the release of our ‘Slide Away’ which is a slide that doesn’t need to be bolted to the deck and can be packed away at the end of play. Grandparents love these as they can be brought out when the grandkids are over and put away for the rest of the time.
