As boat dealers begin to strategize inventory, staffing and marketing plans for the 2026 model year, it may be tempting to focus only on the immediate pain of soft retail demand, tighter credit, eroding margins and the rising cost of carrying boats that have already sat for too long on a floorplan. 

Yet history is clear in demonstrating that slow markets create the next generation of winners. Smart dealers will use today’s turbulence to develop sharper systems and more robust, rewarding customer experiences through a wholesale evolution that leads to a brighter future.

Here are some areas to think about when planning for the upcoming model year.

Short-Term Squeeze

Consumer confidence remains fragile in today’s marketplace. A deadly mixture of inflation and high interest rates, coupled with low personal-savings balances, continues to depress discretionary spending. That’s particularly true for big-ticket items like boats. 

House prices are hovering above their all-time highs, but many homeowners are staying put because of the low interest rates they locked into on their mortgages. Second-lien borrowing at credit unions has jumped more than 50% in the past two years, and loan-delinquency rates, though still below crisis levels, are marching upward. 

These realities are squeezing financing approvals and forcing dealers to discount boats more aggressively to clear aged units. Margin pressure is real, and it serves as a constant reminder that yesterday’s playbook can’t carry into the next cycle.

Rapidly Changing Consumer

At this spring’s American Boating Congress in Washington, D.C., global strategist Rishad Tobaccowala warned that companies lose not because competitors defeat them, but because they refuse to recognize market shifts. Economist and futurist Shawn DuBravac added insights to how the consumer market is shifting, with data noting that there are nearly twice as many women as men in college. Meanwhile, the share of men who are NEET — not in employment, education or training — is rising and projected to keep climbing for the next three to four years.

DuBravac’s conclusion was stark: “The person who walks into your showroom today will look very different 10 years from now, and so will the person who decides how the money is spent.” 

Gender balance, educational attainment, family structure and consumer expectations are all tilting in new directions. My warning to boat dealers is that treating 2025 solely as a quest to survive a down cycle will miss a rare window to reimagine go-to-market strategy and set up for success. Sure, there are Band-Aids that dealers can apply now, but with that approach, dealers will never feel cured of ailments as the market continues to change year after year at an increasingly rapid pace.

Ways to Leverage Technology

During the Great Recession, 35% of boat dealers went out of business. The survivors were forward-looking retailers who embraced digital retailing tools, which in 2008 had not been widely adopted. 

Today, artificial intelligence is shaping up as the next watershed tool to accelerate dealership performance. There are chat assistants that guide buyers through product and specification choices; predictive service scheduling that anticipates labor demand; and dynamic pricing engines that react to floorplan costs in real time. These are not distant ideas. They are off-the-shelf solutions that early adopters are already stitching into their workflows.

Boat dealers do not have to write code to participate, but they do have to experiment. My advice is to start with a narrow use case for AI, such as automated lead-response texting. (From experience, I can tell you that many dealers could use help here.) Another option might be a basic inventory-turn forecast, or an AI-enhanced finance-and-insurance presentation. 

Then measure what happens. Want an easy place to get started? Check out the online course catalog at MRAA Training.com and choose the recent Ask the Expert Webinar titled “Chart a Course with AI in Your Dealership.”

Re-Engineer for the Future

Purposeful dealership evolution is key. First, audit the dealership’s cost structure with fresh eyes. Separate expenses that protect customer experience from those that merely preserve habit, and then redirect every free dollar into areas that expand lifetime customer value: service capacity, mobile maintenance and subscription-style storage or concierge offerings. 

Second, rethink the buyer journey under the assumption that an increasingly educated, time-constrained and female-led household controls the wallet. Financing conversations should shift from interest-rate tables to total-        lifestyle value. Combat price objections by showing how a new boat intersects with family recreation and mental-health benefits. Frame the purchase not as a luxury but instead as time well-invested.

Third, build internal data discipline now, before sales rebound. Track sales conversions and post-sale engagement, from service visits to accessory purchases and consumption of digital content. The data-based evidence a dealership can build now will inform smarter stocking decisions and more credible negotiations with lenders and builders. AI can accelerate understanding of what the data means for any business.

Finally, cultivate a dealership culture that celebrates learning. Mandate that every team or departmental meeting bring one insight from a class, webinar or conference session, and ask managers to document and commit to how they will act on it. Ask the team to explore (and share) how utilizing AI can help the business grow. Continuous improvement is easier to talk about than to operationalize, yet it is the single best path to solidifying a business.

The Signs Are Clear

Tobaccowala’s assertion at the American Boating Congress lingers in my mind: “The best companies and best leaders are never defeated unless they decide to defeat themselves.” Dealers who wait for stability before they experiment, who view demographic change as someone else’s worry, or who dismiss AI as a fad are choosing to stand still at the very moment the market is shifting beneath them.

Yes, margins are thin, and inventory costs sting. But strategic inflection points rarely announce themselves with perfect timing. Treat the coming year as a strategic pit stop: Tune up the dealership, upgrade technology, retrain the team, and redesign the customer experience for the buyer who will dominate the next decade. 

Do that work now, and when the healthier economy arrives, the business won’t just keep pace. It will accelerate past competitors who spent the slowdown bemoaning what they see in the rearview mirror.

Matt Gruhn is president of the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas.