Marine retailer sentiment on current conditions in November checked in at 45, which was six points higher than in October. A neutral outlook is 50. The three- to five-year outlook was up as well for the first time in months, at 24 versus 22. Business wasn’t booming by any means, but some dealers were making headway.
“Give 100% attention to the customer in front of you,” one dealer said. “Few are inquiring at this time of year, but those who are seem to have buying intentions.”
Another added: “We are engaged in new-boat conversations and selling a few boats. From what I can gauge, the show season this winter/early spring should bring solid sales as long as interest rates stop climbing.”
The retailers were responding to this month’s Pulse Report survey, in which Soundings Trade Only, Baird Research and the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas asked 87 marine dealers about retail sales trends, managing inventory, retaining staff and how they are providing a premium service experience.
Some 65% of dealers continued to report new-boat retail declines in November, compared with 18% who saw growth. The same number (65%) reported a drop in used-boat sales, while only 12% reported growth. November typically represents about 3% of annual sales for dealers.
New-boat inventory also continues to be a challenge, with 85% of dealers saying they had too many new boats on their lots and in their showrooms, compared with 4% reporting that inventory was too low. For used-boat inventory, 47% said it was too high and 18% had too little. Directly related to those inventory concerns are high consumer interest rates and big floorplan bills for dealers each month. As one dealer responded, “Considerably higher interest rates for buyers and dealers with floorplans have drastically affected the affordability of a recreational product.”
To move some of that inventory, dealers said factory promotions were helping to generate sales. “Brands that have rebates are selling,” one dealer said. Another added: “2023 closeouts — we are promoting them hard, and it’s working.”
Forging relationships has netted new customers. “A lot of our new customers are referrals from longtime customers,” one dealer responded. “Longtime customers are happy to have us service and/or do upgrades on their boats because they like us.”
Asked about satisfaction with staffing levels, most dealers said they were “slightly understaffed,” followed pretty closely by “properly staffed.” Then it was a big drop to “considerably understaffed,” shadowed closely by “slightly overstaffed.”
“A lack of staff” was the most popular response when dealers were asked about their biggest challenge to delivering a premium customer experience. That was followed evenly by “poor interdepartmental communication,” “lack of time,” “lack of efficient processes” and “lack of training.”
“We have great processes and work to improve them all the time,” one dealer said. “At this time, we are delivering premium customer experience service evident by our repeat business and high CSI numbers.”
This article was originally published in the January 2024 issue.
