“Standing still.” That was one dealer’s response when we asked what wasn’t working in their business in the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas’ July Pulse Report.
I can’t think of a better description of the risk facing marine retailers right now. At every dealer meeting I’ve attended lately, dealers ask me some version of the same question: “What do you think is going to happen with the market?” I don’t make market predictions because I don’t put much faith in anyone else’s predictions. But I understand why dealers want an answer.
Interest rates remain challenging. Inflation continues to pressure household budgets. Tariffs, high fuel prices and geopolitical instability add uncertainty. Consumer confidence remains weak. In the July Pulse Report, 45% of dealers reported declining new-boat retail sales compared with 29% who reported growth. In the heart of dealer-meeting season, when dealers are expected to order more boats, 63% said their new-boat inventory remained too high.
There’s another cautionary signal worth watching, too. The marine industry has historically kept an eye on RV retail as something of a leading indicator, with a common belief that marine trends follow RV by six to nine months. In May, new-RV retail registrations fell 19% year-over-year, marking the ninth consecutive month of declines.
Does that mean marine retail will fall 19%? Of course not. It simply adds another data point to an environment that offers little evidence that dealers should build their plans around the market suddenly rescuing them.
So what’s going to happen next? I don’t know. And neither does anyone else. What I do know is that dealers don’t need a market prediction to decide what steps to take. The more important question is one that only each dealer himself can answer: What am I doing to build a dealership that can win if these conditions don’t materially improve?
Industrywide generalizations never tell the whole story. There are winners and losers in every market. A flat marine market does not mean a dealership has to be flat. It means growth must increasingly come from outperforming the market — earning customers that competitors don’t, operating more effectively than competitors do, and adapting faster to the changes reshaping retail. And adapting faster may matter most right now.
For more than three years, we’ve been waiting for the marine market to move. Meanwhile, nearly everything surrounding these businesses has. The consumer has changed. Younger generations bring different attitudes toward ownership and experiences. Buyers arrive armed with more information and higher expectations for transparency, convenience and personalization. Trust and reputation are increasingly established online before a customer ever contacts a dealership.
Technology has changed even faster. Artificial intelligence is altering how consumers research products, compare alternatives and decide which businesses deserve their attention. Buyers can use AI to research boats, compare prices and even negotiate with dealerships. Meanwhile, those same technologies are beginning to transform the way businesses market, sell, communicate, analyze data and operate.
And the dealership business model itself is evolving. Consolidation continues. Workforce challenges persist. Alternative access models continue to grow. Used boats are playing an increasingly important role in affordability. And after years of escalating prices, the value equation for new-boat ownership has become harder for many consumers to solve.
The market may be standing still. A dealership cannot afford to. That idea has been central to how the MRAA built its annual educational conference, Dealer Week, which is scheduled Dec. 6-9 in Tampa, Fla. In many ways, Dealer Week offers the curriculum for outperforming a stagnant market. As everyone can tell by this year’s theme, “The New Fundamentals,” we built the event around what businesses are going to need next.
Some of the fundamentals of running a great dealership will never change. Take care of customers. Hire and develop good people. Follow up on leads. Manage inventory. Know the numbers. Build a great culture. Execute consistently. But the environment has changed dramatically. And in some cases, the fundamentals themselves are changing with it.
That’s why author Kaihan Krippendorff will challenge dealers to examine their business models, identify emerging opportunities and begin crafting a new marine retail playbook. And it’s why we’ve enlisted veteran trainer Tony Gonzalez to help dealers evaluate their readiness for change as millennials and Gen Zers gain purchasing power and bring different expectations for convenience and customer experience. That all starts at the highest level, with the business model, but Dealer Week works all the way down to how a team sells, markets, serves customers and operates every day.
Author Marcus Sheridan will tackle an entirely new sales reality: Consumers are increasingly asking artificial intelligence platforms which dealership they should do business with. If ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Perplexity isn’t recommending a dealership, its owner needs to understand why — and what to do about it. Sheridan will also lead a hands-on sales boot camp focused on the habits, including the use of AI, that define today’s best salespeople.
Across the rest of the Dealer Week curriculum, we’ll dig into how next-generation consumers want to shop, how dealers can win attention in an increasingly fragmented marketplace, how greater price clarity can reduce customer friction, and how AI can improve dealership decision-making and operations. Service leaders will explore technician development, proactive profitability, customer communication and how fixed operations can become an even more powerful contributor to dealership performance.These aren’t futuristic concepts. They’re becoming the new fundamentals of marine retail.
For the past several years, it has been understandable to watch interest rates, consumer confidence, inflation and sales reports, and wonder when conditions would finally improve. But there’s a danger in allowing the market to dictate the pace at which a dealership improves.
Because while dealers are waiting, somebody else is getting better. Somewhere in the market, a competitor is learning how AI can make their business more productive. They’re figuring out how today’s customer wants to shop. They’re improving their sales process, developing their people, strengthening their service operation and finding new ways to create value. None of those things requires any of us to predict the future. They require leadership.
Eventually, this market will move again. When it does, some dealerships will simply move with it. Others will already be out in front. Now is the time to decide a position.
Matt Gruhn is president of the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas.
This article first appeared in the October 2026 issue of Soundings Trade Only.
