By Matt Kennedy
 SEMA Market Research’s latest report, “Shopping Habits: In-Store & Online,” examines data collected from 5,000 consumers on what parts they buy, where they buy them and how they research ideas for new parts for their vehicles. |
It’s no secret that a sizeable number of specialty-equipment parts are now bought online, while just a decade ago the thought of buying a performance upgrade on the web might have seemed unthinkable for most automotive consumers. But what’s the reality of the situation? And what does that mean for your business?
SEMA Market Research’s latest report, “Shopping Habits: In-Store & Online,” answers this by examining data collected from 5,000 consumers about the parts they buy, where they buy them and how they research ideas for new parts for their vehicles. While the internet is definitely a big slice of the industry’s sales, most products are actually still bought in-store and almost all consumers still buy at least some of their parts from physical locations. This report offers valuable information about these buying habits.
To download the report, “Shopping Habits: In-Store & Online,” go to www.sema.org/shopping-habits-report.
Additional information on what and where consumers buy can be found in the most recent Annual Market Study, available at www.sema.org/2016marketreport.
Meanwhile, as 2017 gets underway, many SEMA members are planning updates to their product offerings to meet their customers’ demands. But do you have the information you need to make an informed decision about what vehicles you should be covering? The SEMA Member VIO Program allows United States-based manufacturer, distributor and retailer/installer members to get hard data about how many specific vehicle makes and models of interest are on the road today.
For more information, check out www.sema.org/vio.