Posts Tagged ‘ automotive aftermarket ’

2012 Online Sales of Auto Parts Growing

April 17, 2012

With the Catalyst 2012 conference in full swing this week in Las Vegas — ChannelAdvisor’s annual ecommerce gathering — we thought this would be a good time to examine online sales of auto parts, statistics and multichannel shopping. The growth in online sales of auto parts has been outpacing the rest of the industry for many years. In 2009 we saw the slowest growth rate at just under 10% over 2008. More recently, we’re seeing a robust growth rate again and we’re projecting online sales of auto parts to be just under $3.5 billion...

Americans Spend More Income on Auto Parts, Reversing Long-Term Trend

January 23, 2012

A bit of good news to add to our post last month that sales of auto parts for 2011 will show an increase over 2010: Our market research shows the amount of auto parts purchased as a percentage of personal income has reversed a downward trend of more than 10 years. In 2010, retail sales of auto parts represented about half a percent of personal income (0.0513% to be exact). Preliminary numbers for 2011 show the first increase in that percentage in more than 10 years, to levels not seen since 2008. We’re projecting...

Financial Benchmarking Program Allows Automotive Distributors, Manufacturers and Retailers to Measure Business Performance

September 22, 2011

The SEMA Financial Benchmarking program administered by Hedges & Company is accepting new participants. This market research program provides auto parts and accessory distributors, manufacturers and retailers exclusive, industry-specific sales forecasts and key performance indicators, with the ability to confidentially compare their company’s performance with other companies in the industry. The SEMA Financial Benchmarking program collects data from respondents through a simple questionnaire. Responses are aggregated and program participants receive a monthly report of metrics including year-to-date sales, sales forecasts, quick ratio, gross margin, inventory turns, customer return rate, sales per employee, operational overhead...

Slight Decline In Aftermarket Stock Index While S&P Gains

May 5, 2011

January 2011 saw the first decline for the Hedges Aftermarket Stock Index since July 2010. The 5% decline in stock value was halted in February and the Index rebounded 4% through April. In comparison, the S&P 500 increased 2% in January, 2% in February, and 3% in April. The S&P increase may be attributed to an uptick in the Consumer Confidence Index that is approaching a 9 month high. However, a combination of a strong new car market and increased oil prices may negatively affect the aftermarket in months to come. Automakers are expecting...

How will 2011 be for the Automotive Aftermarket Industry?

January 3, 2011

Happy New Year for the automotive aftermarket industry! Following up on our popular blog post “What If You Invested $1,000 in Automotive Aftermarket Companies” the Hedges & Company Automotive Aftermarket Index finished 2010 with a 48% gain. In a dramatic comparison, the S&P 500 only increased 11% in 2010. Not only did the Hedges & Company Automotive Aftermarket Index outperform the S&P, but aside from a slight blip in June and July, the rise was steady and constant. Compared to the 2008 baseline (gray line in chart), 2010 was clearly a breakout year. The...

Auto Aftermarket is a Bright Spot In A Cloudy Economy

November 2, 2010

While economists report that the U.S. economy is “bumping along the bottom,” the Hedges & Company Aftermarket Stock Index continues its climb that started in March 2009. That’s right, March 2009, three months before the “Great Recession” was officially declared over. The stock index is comprised of over 20 publicly-traded automotive aftermarket SEMA-member/AAIA-member companies and has steadily grown over 72%, March 2009 to November 2010. The chart below compares the stock index with the S&P 500. The S&P 500 does appear to bumping along the bottom with a hint of a slow recovery. In...

Turn/Earn Calculation and GMROI to Manage Inventory

October 15, 2010

The Turn/Earn Index and Gross Margin Return on Inventory (GMROI) are two simple ways to help manage your inventory. Turn and Earn to manage inventory Your purchasing manager or accountant may want to justify a SKU (stock keeping unit) with the Turn/Earn Index. Also known as the Turn/Earn calculation or Turn/Earn formula, or simply as Turn and Earn, it’s a simple way to help manage inventory by evaluating your entire inventory or a part number to see if it is worth stocking or selling. To calculate the Turn/Earn index for your inventory, simply multiply...

What if You Invested $1,000 in Automotive Aftermarket Companies?

September 7, 2010

Also see our update on this topic, posted November 2, 2010 If you invested $1,000 in the S&P 500 and $1,000 in a representative group of publicly-traded automotive aftermarket companies on January 1, 2008, how would your investment look today? You may be surprised. Starting with a baseline of January 2008, Hedges & Company tracked over 20 publicly-traded automotive aftermarket companies and compared that to the S&P 500. As the chart reveals, the downturn in the economy devastated the S&P 500 but the stock value of aftermarket companies did very well starting in the...

Ideas For The Best Email Marketing Subject Lines

September 3, 2010

Email marketing best practices call for analysis of subject lines which have a huge influence on the open rate. An appropriate subject line also influences the click-through rate. Why is this so important? Let’s say in a year you send 100,000 emails. Improving your open rate from 15% to the industry average of just over 19% means over a year’s time your messages are seen by 4,000 more sets of eyeballs. Clearly the entire email message is important, but the first few words of the subject line, the overall approach and the call to...

What Should You Budget for Online Marketing?

September 3, 2010

Bryan Robb posted some interesting automotive marketing information over at Digital Throttle. He points out three compelling facts why he feels you should allocate at least 35% of your automotive marketing budget to online advertising. 1). The average consumer in the United States spends 12 hours per week on the Internet compared to three hours reading magazines. 2). 40% of consumer’s media time is spent using the Internet. 3). Consumers aren’t thinking in terms of “offline or online” any longer. Visiting an automotive enthusiast website is an extension of their hobby and lifestyle, like...

Hedges & Company Principals To Speak at SEMA Show

September 1, 2010

Tuesday, November 2 at 11:00 am, Julie Hedges, President of Hedges & Company, will speak about the SEMA Financial Benchmarking program in room N259 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. How does your business compare? The SEMA Financial Benchmarking Program was developed in order to provide SEMA members with financial benchmarks they could use to help measure and compare their business operations with others in the industry. Industry-specific key performance indicators are reported that can then be used by participants to improve or grow their businesses. The program provides business owners and managers information,...

A Checklist If You’re Thinking of Selling Online

August 30, 2010

A friend of ours, Rob Eberhart, posted a good checklist to follow if you’re considering selling automotive performance parts and accessories online. Rob’s an expert on selling auto parts online and works at Direct Communications, Inc. (DCi), and his blog is over on the CatalogRack eStore site, found here. His checklist is good advice for anyone starting out. His six most important things to check off: 1). First, decide how you’ll sell online: turnkey website, through shopping sites like eBay, or build your own site from scratch (very expensive!). 2). Don’t forget the data!...

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