Magazine for the professional tire industry
Issue link: https://mtd.epubxp.com/i/449261
MTD January 2015 T here are between 29,000 and 30,000 independent tire dealers in the U.S. in any given year. Whether store owners or store managers, they deal with men and women tire buyers on a daily basis. And most of the time, the primary decision maker, the person who decides which tires to buy and where to buy them, is, contrary to popular belief, male. Recent research by BrightLine Marketing LLC sheds a new light on the tire-buying process. According to a survey of tens of thousands of men and women, when it comes to buying tires, men are the primary decision makers 61% of the time. "One of my primary goals as a market researcher is to make sure my survey is 'representative,'" says BrightLine Marketing owner Randy Ladd. "One of the ways I do this is to invite an equal number of male and female respondents to take my survey." Determining the tire decision makers is the key to his survey. "Tis may not necessarily be the person who calls on the phone, the person who drops of the car or the person who hands you their credit card. But it is the person who decided where to buy." Te percentages vary depending on the city, but not enough to change the results. In Chart 28, the cities chosen were based on extremes: the percentages in San Diego and Sacramento were the closest spread, while Houston and New York were the two with the greatest discrepancies. "Te range is a litle over 10% from the lowest market to the highest," says Ladd. None of the results indicate a trend at this point. "Don't get me wrong, I am not arguing that tire retailers should focus on men as decision makers," he says. "Women represent 40% of decision makers in my survey, and most retailers who ignore 40% of the market will have a tough time staying afoat. I am simply suggesting that tire decision makers may not be 50%-50%." Distribution channel trends Warehouse clubs and auto dealerships gained market share at the expense of mass merchandisers in 2014 (see Chart 26). Steady growth in the number of outlets in both distribution channels is the partial key to their success. Warehouse clubs have increased their number of outlets 7.7% since 2011. Franchised new car dealerships are slowly building up their numbers again following the recession, and that is in addition to the more than 700 (and counting) Ford Motor Co. Quick Lane locations. Te problems of Sears Holdings Corp. and its Sears Auto Centers factors into its reversal of fortune. At one time, Sears sold close to 20 million tires a year; that total dropped to 3.2 million last year. Independent tire dealers remain the dominant force in the tire industry (see Charts 26-27), led by the top tire dealer in the country, Discount Tire. With close to 900 outlets and Discount Tire Direct, the company sold 28 million tires last year. Te average Discount Tire store sells more than 80 tires a day. ■ Facts section: Retailing and wholesaling Gender bending Surprise! When it comes to buying tires, women are not the dominant sex Chart 27 CONSUMER TIRE DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL MARKET SHARE Initial channel 2014 2012 2010 2008 Independent tire dealers 77.0% 77.0% 76.0% 75.0% Tire company stores 8.0% 8.0% 8.0% 8.5% Miscellaneous* 15.0% 15.0% 16.0% 16.5% * Miscellaneous includes mass merchandisers, warehouse clubs, car dealers, auto parts chains, muffer shops and oil com- panies/service stations. Chart 26 U.S. CONSUMER TIRE RETAIL MARKET SHARE (based on retail sales) Distribution channel 2014 2013 Independent tire dealers 60.5% 60.5% Mass merchandisers 13.0% 14.0% Warehouse clubs 9.0% 8.5% Auto dealerships 8.0% 7.5% Tire company-owned stores 7.5% 7.5% Miscellaneous outlets 2.0% 2.0% 0 20 40 60 80 100 % Male 52% 52% 63% 64% 36% 37% 48% 48% % Female New York Houston Sacramento San Diego Chart 28 2014 TIRE-BUYING DECISIONS BASED ON GENDER Source: BrightLine Marketing, (330) 239-1006 54