West Marine Pricing

[dougl33]

I just got a phone call from Barry Kelly who is West Marine's regional sales manager for the South East (includes all Gulf States through Texas). He said that so far this is the only region that has changed their price matching policy. It changed as of 10/20. He told me that this was an experiment for the 4th quarter. All other regions should still be price matching the internet as long as shipping and/or handling charges were included.

He told me that as a retail store (rent, employees, inventory, etc...) they have a hard time competing against internet stores. I agreed with him that it would be tough for WM to make money if all of their customers were having them price match internet prices. However, when I asked him if 10 out of 100 customers were doing that he said it was probably even less at which point he agreed that WM's "experimental" policy did not make much sense.

As a case in point, I used Garmin's 492C which gpsonsale.com has listed for $680 while WM has it listed for $880. He said that gpsonsale.com is probably making 4-5% of the sale where WM needs to make 22%. If WM was pushing a 100 of these things a day out the door and less than 10 were at the 4-5% mark that nots too bad. He agreed.

 

[Boatsb]

22%. BULL*&#$. The store gets 22%. Corporate gets 25% too. Add it up. They get the product from manufacturers in Qty at the end colum price. They get VIR ( Volume incentive rebates) GIR ( growth incentive rebate) Marketing dollars and coop funds for their advertising. If they cant seem to maintain the stores based on the lower sales the have maybe less stores would lower operating costs. Or maybe fair prices would attract knowledgable buyers.

I am in the professional electronics business so I know the deal. Chains make special deals that we can't get based on volume. We cant compete with circuit city at the coat level but they like that margin at 40+% and they willnot deny it.

 

[67hat34c]

wm price on 4" 12v blower, jabsco, is 150 or so. cost for boat manufacturer is 40.00 for the same part. 375% is large mark up., boaters world has the same thing for 119.00 better but still a big mark up and I bet WM and boatersworld cost is less than a medium non corporat owned boat manufacturer.

 

[Starman]

The bottom line in retail is all that really matters. Making money is the sole purpose of the retailer as I doubt there is anyone doing it for thier health or just to have fun.

Personally I could care less how much a person or a business makes off of me profit wise as long as I am satisfied with the price and product.

I was in retail sales/management for about 9 years several years back and we used to say when the customer made the purchase they would go home and tell everyone what a great deal they got and dealt with a really good saleperson.

But when the product broke, it was always " Look what that S.O.B. SOLD me " !!!

I think independants would give better pricing than large outfits, even if thier pricing ( retail ) is close to that of the big boys. Meaning they can not get the same discounts as the volume stores but will make much less profit to offer a deal and be competetive.


So I am somewhat curious as to what type of products ( marine ) are most commonly sought and does internet shopping account for much of your shopping ?

Unless there is an urgent need for a specific item, does the time frame of a few days for shipping really bother anyone ?

 

[Boss Lady]

I know for me that the internet makes looking for the best price a lot easier, and with the advent of Fedex and UPS, getting something quickly has changed the way more people shop. It used to be that you had to deal with the store closest to where you lived, simply because most people found products through their local retailer, there was not a lot of comparison shopping that could be done, and shipping times were much longer than they are today. Now with mass marketing, the internet and the variety of magazine publications available to all of us we are more informed as consumers. Generally, I find a product that I saw or read about, and then I look it up on the internet. I also look at forums and blogs to find real user reviews, not what the marketing department wants us to think. Unfortuneatly a lot of magazines no longer publish real product reviews, they have just become extensions of their advertisers and parrot the sales literature. Then search for online suppliers, most of the time I can find out enough information to go ahead and make a purchase, but on occasion I need to find out more and will search out a local dealer, if his price is competitive and they are helpful I will buy from them, if they are rude, stupid, or just want my money, I will search out someone else who really wants my business. Price is important, but not necessarily the most important thing. A combination of Price and Service combined gets my money for big ticket items. Simple stuff, is usually just the total cost for it to show up at my door compared from wherever it is available, mail order, internet, Ebay, local retailer, etc.

The single largest thing missing today is real customer service. Consumers have had to learn to fend for themselves, so they are more price sensitive than ever before, since the vast majority of the sales staff I encounter are complete idiots, and I usually know more about the product they are selling when I show up than they do.

Just my $0.02

 

[Genesis]

Exactly.

I don't mind paying somewhat more for excellent service. However, finding that has become impossible. Therefore, all you have to compete on is...... price.

 

[Starman]

Good responses for sure.

It seems we all want the same things we we shop. A staff that can articulate with some sort of professionalism the workings of the products they sell, and a fair price.

As many others here, I feel this is a dying art form in the USA.

When I was in sales/mamagement I trained my people to always make eye contact with everytone in the store no matter how in depth the conversation was with the person they are currently serving. And it did make a difference.

When I started selling furniture I asked an experienced salesman how do I sell a sofa for 500.00 when there was one right beside it for 200.00 ? He told me this :

" The bitterness of poor quality will linger on long after the sweetness of low price is forgotton "

But I will be the first to say that just because something cost more, that in itself does not make it better.

 

[jim rosenthal]

Paul, I agree in principle. But I have to say that I have most often seen the often-quoted adage about the "bitterness of poor quality" etc etc in the setting of someone trying to use it as a lever for charging more for the same or inferior quality. In other words, it's a sales tool, not a real philosophy- one intended to shame the customer into paying more by implying that if he doesn't, he's a penny pincher, or cheap. Fine- I earn the money I spend and if I want to be cheap with it, it's my business.

None of us here seem to object to paying more for a better quality item, or for better quality service. However, neither of those key things are available at West Marine. Bluntly, WM sells the same stuff that everyone else does- even counting their house brands of boating items, which are invariably repackaged identical-to-brand-name items that they have bought on the cheap in larger quantity. Often the maker of the WM brand is not the best quality one- for instance, their VHF radios are made by Uniden, which are just okay, not by Icom, Standard/Horizon, or Ray, just to name a few.

So what DO they offer? Of the essential marketing triad of competitive price, better quality, and convenience, WM offers exactly one item- convenience. And with web shopping, and better UPS and FedEx delivery, convenience is going down as a reason to patronize WM. I noticed ten or twelve years ago that I most often knew a lot more about what I was trying to buy than the person selling it to me at BoatUS or WM did. Not only was this annoying (why was I paying a markup for the privilege of educating the person selling it to me?) but when I had questions, they couldn't answer them.

I don't think WM has much advantage other than having a store on every street corner where they can overcharge for what they sell. There are virtually NO products that are unique to WM. In my area we have local marine retailers that are at least local businesses that contribute to the Annapolis economy. I'd rather spend my money with them

 

[Passages]

I don't think WM has much advantage other than having a store on every street corner where they can overcharge for what they sell.

WM and to a lesser extent Boaters World seem to be setting themselves up for market over-saturation. I live in south cental Connecticut and I can count 8 stores within 20 miles. Lately, when I wander into these stores, they are often empty of other customers. I'm not looking forward to when the bottom falls out.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Darn college kids-- All the stores in Chicago are demographically located. 20 miles n.w.-- 20 miles west, and one in the worst (traffice wise) part of town imaginable. Way easier to shop online!! ws

 

[MicroKap]

The Boater's World in Eatontown, NJ just closed. No advance notice. The next closest one is in Toms River, at least 25 miles away.

 

[Freebird]

I expect the Boaters World in Knoxville to close as well. West Marine came in shortly after they did, and they built a bigger store literally across the street! They could throw rocks at each other!

The Knoxville market, in my opinion, cannot support both stores. Maybe they will engage in a local price war, and I can get the new electronics I need!

 

[34Hatt]

yachtsmanbill Darn college kids-- All the stores in Chicago are demographically located. 20 miles n.w.-- 20 miles west, and one in the worst (traffice wise) part of town imaginable. Way easier to shop online!! ws

This made me remember something about Worst Marine. Do you know that what they stock and how the store is set up down to the last screw is all done in Ca headquarters. Yeah a bunch of desk jockeys with their computors decide what we need in our neighborhood store .

 

[Freebird]

Yeah, I got into the same deal many years ago when I managed a K-Mart sporting goods department. I had stuff forced on me that I knew wouldn't sell in my area. Then I got fussed at for their mistakes when it sat on the shelf!

 

[Starman]

Hey Jim,
Missed this for the past day or so.

I agree that old saying can be used as a sales tool. And that is not acceptable to me nor should it be to anyone else either.

The honest salesperson is becomming extinct.

 

[CARL GUZMAN]

What I think that happend ??? Is when West Marine bought out Boat US they where like the biggest down here ( corp. decisition sp) but it added too many stores to the area when boat us probubly new the future was in internet ..it's like most american stories stock holders get the shaft because some shit heads got together and figured out how to make some money and divide a company up but the story dose't show where the profits went ??