Wiper Systems

Wipers and their basic components are the perfect retail-driven product. In fact, the blade products you sell to your shop customers are most likely going straight into retail-style sales displays at their shops, prior to being affixed to a customer’s car. However, that doesn’t mean the counterperson has it easy in this particular segment. According to manufacturers and even market researchers, the wiper blade market is rife with cost concerns and requires an artful sales touch.

The Basics

Stores today need to offer their customer base a range of products based on quality, price point, and ease of installation. Offering economy blades, mid-priced blades, and premium blades allows stores to capture the sale most suited to each customer’s preference. Garage owners are probably not going to be thrilled with DIY-style offerings, but they can at least be informed as to the retail advantage of these types of products. If you position the shop as a genuine retail outlet for some types of replacement parts, your clients can certainly improve their bottom line.

Knowing when to highlight and push wiper sales is as important as recalling the appropriate part numbers. According to manufacturers, the spring and fall are particularly good times to promote wipers by having service providers stock up in preparation for the season. Spring and fall weather changes usually result in poor driving conditions, and so obviously become a little more “top of mind” than under ideal driving conditions.

Establishing a solid educational program, or at least explaining to your clients how they might better establish one, is a third way to bolster your basic wiper program. Manufacturers suggest reminding and educating consumers and installers to do a visual inspection at least twice per year. One of the ideas some suppliers use to promote preventative wiper blade maintenance is to remind vehicle owners to change their blades at the same time they change their clocks. This has the advantage of being both easy to remember, and happens to coincide with the spring and the fall sales cycle discussed above.

Go premium for profits

According to manufacturers, the top profit-driving element of the wiper market is premium products. Selling the most advanced windshield wiper blades helps the customer with superior wiper blades, and they provide good margins for both the garage and you.

In terms of advancing technology that is driving the premium market, “bracketless,” or beam, wiper blades are certainly leading the charge and can take the motorist to the next level of safe driving, as well as optimizing customer satisfaction and help your margins.

Premium blade designs eliminate the external frame, and use internal tension springs and an aerodynamic wind spoiler that result in greatly improved visibility. By replacing the conventional external frame and joints with internal tension springs, they apply a uniform down-force pressure along the entire length of the wiping element. This sort of overall performance upgrade, combined with the fact that most premium wipers boast a 20 percent longer blade life, are perfect selling points to use when trying to steer a client towards a more profitable wiper blade solution.

Despite the many advantages however, given that premium blades are constructed out of premium materials, they are as prone to price sensitivity as most customers can be.

Cost Concerns Still an Issue

Although the demand for wiper blades has increased considerably, cost competition poses a serious challenge for manufacturers. Increases in the price of steel, the primary raw material for manufacturing wiper system components, has significantly contributed to this trend. Premium wiper motors, arms, and blades have high steel content. With windshields getting longer and larger, the average length of wiper arms and blades has expanded. Therefore, a hike in steel prices will cause a simultaneous rise in average prices.

Luckily there are options for the astute counterperson. Wiper refills are a cost-effective replacement option to blades for price-sensitive consumers. Since refills are sold in pairs, consumers benefit from changing both the refills of the wiper blades at a much lower cost. Make these refill packs available to your garage clients, and their own drop-in retail sales should improve.

There is an emerging challenge to the refill pack, however, with cheaper and easier-to-install wiper blades coming in from Asian countries. For end users who are looking to replace the whole wiper blade instead of just buying refills, some of these economy products offer an alternative. Overseas competition is expected to increase in the wiper systems aftermarket, and so counterpeople can’t simply ignore this market segment. To counter the low-cost imports, some reputable domestic manufacturers are positioning their products with product quality as the key proposition, targeting quality- and brand-conscious consumers. The same sort of approach should be employed by counterpeople. It’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able, or even want to, compete with these types of products based on price. By basing your sales approach on quality and safety in today’s climate of continued recalls of Asian-manufactured goods, a well-informed counterperson should be able to carry the day.

Dos and Don’ts: Wiper Sales

Do keep your clients up to speed on the latest advancements in the wiper blade market, and ensure they have a sufficient stock to handle drop-in retail customers. Wiper blades are often a quick essential “part failure” type of purchase, so shop owners should always have a solid premium option in stock at all times.

Don’t keep yourself out of that wiper retail loop. Have high-end wipers on hand in significant quantities to help with retail sales, lest your drop-in client find another source for that part, and likely others.

Do sell a premium product based on its comparative advantages and safety aspects. A premium blade with the latest technology will benefit both you and your customer in terms of profit margin, as well as reduce the incidence of comebacks due to shoddy craftsmanship.

Don’t continue to sell them the same old product, if you know there is something better. Try and take the extra couple of minutes to talk to your clients about upgrading their inventory, as the sale of higher-priced items will certainly help people on all sides of the transaction.