Surprise! Industry holiday sales fared well

There’s always been a rub against the industry that we as a whole are too seasonal-focused and not enough holiday-focused. That we let the “Black Fridays” and other parts inventory-reducing opportunities slip away simply because we’re so focused on the next spring or summer selling season.

That perception may change after you hear this: We, as an industry, performed better than the retail industry at large for “Black Friday.”

I won’t go into the full report, which you’ll see in the upcoming Powersports Business. However, I can tell you that our friends at ADP Lightspeed did a survey of more than 400 dealerships around the nation to look at how “Black Friday” sales did this year vs. a year ago.

When you stack up their findings vs. a national survey of consumers that the National Retail Federation recently did, you’ll come away pretty impressed. Our customers were more apt to spend as much money this year as they did the year before. That can’t be said in general about other retail industries.

And by the way, the Motorcycle Industry Council is working on a parts and accessory program called “Revive Your Ride” that could further improve our holiday sales. (See the e-news report for more on that program.)

All of this leads to the question: What worked for you on “Black Friday” at your dealership this year?

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Related posts:

1. A major consideration for the holiday retailer
2. Shoppers emerge on Black Friday
3. Holiday sales push needs to start today!
4. Forecasting 2011’s industry sales
5. What motorcycle brand fared the best in 2009?