How's Business? Recent Survey Results from Babcox

We recently surveyed Counterman readers about their current business conditions. Counterman magazine serves the business needs of the distribution channel of the aftermarket, so editorial is geared more towards the jobber, counterperson, or retailer. The survey was conducted in February, 2009. We had 126 responses.

Of the respondents, the majority (71%) classified themselves as a Jobber (NAPA, Carquest, independent, etc.) 20% classified themselves as a WD, and the rest were either a Retail store like Advance or AutoZone, or "other".

How are sales? We all want to know how the other guy is doing before we tell our tale. We asked how their sales in January compared to January last year. 60% reported sales were down, 23% reported they were the same.

How about February, we asked. 52% reported sales were down, 31% reported sales were the same. Oddly enough, for the months of January and February, 83% reported they were even or down. Yet, I take some comfort from the fact that the number reporting their sales were down had gone down 8%. That's a good sign that there is some life in the aftermarket.

What is your forecast for your locations' purchases from suppliers in March compared to March, 2008? 45% reported they would purchase less. But 51% reported they would purchase the same or more than last March. Again, not a bad indicator.

How are your current inventory levels compared to last year at this time? As you might expect, a large portion of the respondents had lower inventory levels (44%). But 33% had the same levels, and 22% had increased inventory.

We're all interested in the end user. Is he buying our stuff? Is he still working? We wanted to know, so we asked, "how does your current wholesale customer count compare to this time last year?" 44% reported they had fewer customers, 46% reported they had the same number, and 10% reported they had more customers than last year.

Last, we asked about returns. Answer this question yourself before you read too much further: What do you think is the industry rate of returns? I thought as an industry it runs about 18-22%. But according to our survey respondents, the total returns as a % of total sales averaged 9.7%. When we conducted this same survey five years ago, that number was 15%. So again, a good sign for our industry. Does this mean all the investments made in automation (from order entry to order processing) is finally paying off? This number includes warranty, cores, etc, so it is very inclusive.

One last thought, we asked them to classify the reason for their return. Cores, of course, accounted for the largest portion of the return - 48%. But the number one reason for a return is still the wrong part was ordered (17%). This was followed closely by warranty/defective (16%), with the wrong part delivered falling to a distant third, just 8%. This seems to indicate there can still be improvement in cataloging (both paper and digital) and training.

What do you think?

I think it's Friday, and Rascal is wondering if he's going to get his toy back.

Tool & Equipment Trends - According to our Readers

A couple of weeks ago I reported on the "lifestyle" of today's technicians. Today, I can share the results of our survey on Tools and Equipment. These results reflect the shop owner's experience, not the technician. I have to apologize ahead of time for the manner in which I'm sharing this info - it was a little tough to pull into a cohesive format.


We surveyed the readers of our TechGroup magazines: Underhood Service, Import Car, and Brake & Front End in order to collect up-to-date information on the types of tools and equipment found in independent repair shops. This is another important distinction to make - this information all comes from independent repair shops - no dealerships. We also measured the importance of various attributes affecting tool purchases and the sources of information that shop owners use when they make their purchasing decisions.



Surveys were mailed in September, 2008, and the responses were compiled in October. Once again, I'm just going to share the highlights. A complete copy of the survey results can be made available on request. Of course, I can never resist editorializing as I go....

• 86% of our respondents were either the owner or partner, 12% were managers
• 81.4% have complete purchasing authority on new auto service equipment, 12.2% share the authority with others
• Average dollar value of all personal tools used professionally is $65,300
• Average amount spent on tools each month is $455

We asked, "where do you receive the MOST information on new tools?". 73% said from Trade magazines. The next largest percentage was 17% from mobile distributors. Websites only scored a 2%, and the manufacturers' website scored 0%. I found that VERY interesting. On one hand, good for me because it means our readers still find quite a bit of value in our magazines, and (hopefully) so do our advertisers because their message is being sought out in trade magazines. On the other hand, possibly bad for the manufacturer who has invested quite a bit of $$ in their website, and they may or may not be getting a good return on their investment. You decide.

What makes a technician or shop owner buy a tool? Do you think it's brand, where it's made, price?

According to our readers, the BRAND drives their decision most often. Our readers specify a particular brand frequently or always 73% of the time. If they don't specify, it's because 77% know the brand the vendor will supply.

What helps drive a tool-buying decision? Number one answer is warranty, followed by brand, then availability.

When asked what the 3 most important purchase factors were after brand, 92% chose quality, followed by warranty and then competitive pricing.

Where do they buy their tools & equipment?
57% of their purchases are made from mobile distributors, 14% are purchased from tool & equipment WDs, and the other 29% is dispersed amongst retailers, full-line WD, online, direct from the mfg, and from dealerships.

Have their purchasing habits changed? For a few - yes. 17% have decreased their purchases from the mobiles. While 33% have increased their purchases on-line. (I would still guess that on-line purchase amount is small compared to the rest of their purchases, but can't substantiate my gut feel.)

Specific Product info

• Battery chargers, compressor, tool box/cart - in 90% or more of the shops
• Pneumatic tools, test equipment, shop lights - in 82% - 86% of the shops
• Lifts, specialty hand tools, specialty sockets/wrenches and diagnostic tools are in 79% of the shops surveyed
• 23% had hybrid specialty tools and just
• 19% had flash reprogrammers

And the answer to my favorite question, "Would you find a Buyers Guide of Tools and Equipment useful? 87% said yes, and most said they would hold onto it for 6 months or more. Music to my ears, because we're getting ready to go to press with our 2nd annual Buyer's Guide early next month. And we're the only publisher in the industry that has a printed (as well as on-line) version. After all, our customers are still finding most of their product information from the printed page!

One last comment about this segment of our readers, they reported that they typically spend 46% of their time diagnosing and repairing vehicles. Even though they own multi-bay shops, and they employ 2 or more technicians, they are still spending an incredible amount of time IN the business, versus working ON their business. Only 8% of their time is spent meeting with suppliers. If you are a supplier to this market, you need to understand that as you go forward in your marketing plan. They see a supplier less than 40 minutes/day - and that "supplier" could be a sales rep, a mobile distributor, or a factory person. Ask yourself this question, When you are not in front of them, what have you done to make them remember you?