AVB COO Dave Meekings introduces the Add-On Optimizer at Convention.
A delivery, install and haul-away calculator to keep you competitive
By Alan Wolf, YSN
In their rush to cut retail prices and reclaim market share, the national box stores have blurred the true price of appliance products and services by stacking promotions and revisiting their menu of delivery, installation and haul-away services.
Indeed, in a chain-store version of “Borrow from Peter to pay Paul,” some national retailers have raised the price of their in-home services to help offset some of the cost of their steep discounts. In fact, home improvement stores on average are now asking hundreds of dollars in after-charges and fees to provide these services for bundled purchases, which often exceeds the price of some appliance products.
Unfortunately, this is the one area where BrandSource dealers — who are the best in the business at delivery, install and takeaway — have not kept pace with their big-box competitors. As a result, AVB COO Dave Meekings explained in his Convention 2024 keynote, members are needlessly leaving plenty of cash on the table by not maintaining comparable service rates.
Don’t Miss Out
How much exactly are members missing out on? Dealers who haven’t updated their rates since 2022 could be taking a pass on the equivalent of a 3% increase in profit margin, Meekings said.
“That’s 3% of margin to the bottom line — just by charging what you deserve to charge on things you’re already doing,” he said.
In order to help members earn what they deserve, AVB has added what Meekings described as “a really cool new tool” to the BrandSource Backroom called the Add-On Optimizer. As the COO explained it, members can log in to the Optimizer, enter their current service charges and compare them to the national box stores. Dealers who are selling themselves short can then plug in new hypothetical charges and fees, to determine how much more revenue your business could generate.
“This is margin you can offer yourselves; it’s margin you deserve; it’s margin that you need to capture in order to remain competitive and profitable when we compete with the box stores,” Meekings said.
“Use the Add-On Optimizer,” he added, “and make sure you’re earning the money you deserve to remain profitable and competitive with the competition.”
YSN publisher AVB BrandSource is the nation’s largest merchandising and marketing co-op for independent appliance, mattress, furniture and CE dealers.
