Dealer sentiment on current conditions was flat in October (35 versus 35 in September), and the three- to five-year outlook increased slightly to 48 from 44 in September. These figures are both below the neutral outlook of 50.
For this month’s Pulse Report, Soundings Trade Only, Baird Research and the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas asked 58 marine retailers to assess recent trends in North America. More dealers reported retail declines (48%) than growth (21%) in new-boat retail in October. One dealer said, “Aggressive promotions and deep discounting are the only things that are helping to sell boats.” Another added, “Weather [is] going into winter, so not much of anything going on besides getting ready for boat show and winterization.”
Dealers also reported lower used-boat retail in October: 54% reported declines while 23% reported growth. Baird reports that October typically represents approximately 4% of annual retail sales.
Some 70% of dealers reported that new-boat inventory was “too high,” and 4% of dealers reported that it was “too low.” Some 40% of dealers said used-boat inventory was “too high” and 23% reported it was “too low” in October. One dealer said: “This has been an exhausting, uncertain season. Hopefully, this winter provides opportunities to network with other dealers and hear some ways to more successfully navigate this challenging market.”
Another comment was positive: “Not sure how to explain the October uptick. We had good trade-in activity and were aggressive with handing service customers over to the sales department.”
Yet another dealer wrote, “We hired an outside marketing company to handle our online advertising and image, and it has tremendously helped our brand awareness. We have also actively reached out to people online to promote our consignment program. Our year-to-date consignment sales are up by $450,000 over last year, and we attribute the increase directly to our online promotion.”
When asked what other strategies were working, dealers cited events to spark interest, and the need for continued promotions and discounts. One dealer said, “Keep promotions and events flowing through the winter months. We have a huge customer appreciation event in November called Evening with the Stars (39 years running), and then in January, we get riled up for the boat show. Try and keep the energy up and stay in front of your customers.”
When asked what was not working, many comments focused on consumer hesitancy and the government shutdown, which continued through October. One respondent said, “People are still nervous about the economy, especially with the shutdown. The sale of new products has definitely slowed down because of that.” Another said, “People sincerely have their heels dug in and [are] taking a serious wait-and-see approach to see what’s next with government.”
There was frustration evident in the comments, as well. One dealer said, “I literally can’t give away the remaining 2023 and 2024 inventory. I have offered the product well below invoice in a myriad of markets without interest. Sales over the past year have me at a loss.”
Regarding tariffs, one dealer said, “Tariffs will negatively impact sailboat sales more than powerboat sales because the majority of sailboats are made outside of the USA. One of the remaining U.S. sailboat builders just paused operations, which doesn’t bode well for the U.S. sailing industry. Purchasers of higher-end sailboats are opting to take delivery in Europe and not registering the boat in the USA.”
The survey also asked dealers about their phone systems and how they handle calls effectively. Most dealers, when asked what customers heard when their calls were put on hold, said music or radio. The next-highest response was that callers heard information about the dealer’s history, or promotions or events. The third-highest answer was: “They don’t get put on hold.”
Many dealers emphasized efforts to have a person answering calls and working the phones professionally. “We’ve recently hired a receptionist to be the call center for all locations,” one said. Another answered, “Live person answers every call during business hours. After-hours calls generate an email and text notification, and these calls are answered the next day.”
The use of additional software systems to manage calls and gain data from them was mentioned by numerous dealers. One said, “We have a live body answering all phone calls that we possibly can. … We also used Kenect for text message communication and the Boatyard software for service communication.”
Another wrote, “We are using AI-driven call answering. It has helped direct the call and provide information and improved response time.” Another said, “We use SalesCaptain to monitor all of our call system. [And] we have a main line and a backup line that answers if the main line cannot.”
