The importance of accessories
Anyone who has watched Orange County Choppers or Monster Garage knows how important custom bikes are in the motorcycle industry. In the rest of the world from Italy to Japan customizing a scooter is a normal part of the industry. The emergence of the hip hop and urban style around the world is undeniable. This is now starting to take off in America as well so don’t get left out by not stocking accessories. Clients tend to invest more in customizing a scooter than what they spent on the scooter. A good shop has one or two custom scooters on display and we don’t mean vintage we mean “new.” Never underestimate the importance of having chrome accessories, rims, and other body kits in stock. These are hot items which sell themselves. From racing exhausts to cup holders if you don’t have them it only means someone else is selling them. This is what separates your business from the fly by night guy who only orders parts as people need them. In the world of customization you have to invest to be the best. If you stock it, display it, and show it off your clients will keep coming back to build their dream bike.
We reccomend stocking accessories for all the brands you service and sell and if you're a smart dealer for the brands the guy down the street sells. Honda and Yamaha dealers dont like to stock scooter accessories. Go ahead steal their business. Be the number 1 repair shop in your area for Ruckus / Zoomer upgrades, make money where others dont see a market. Thats the greatest thing about the US scooter market its that its under-served. Go for it and call us if you have any questions.
www.MRP-SPEED.com
The thrill of riding a scooter or a buggy is living in the moment. This applies to accessories and performance parts. Your customer sees it in the store, asks about it, and buys it. Having an exhaust display, a tire display, a helmet display, and an accessories display is essential. We understand that stores cannot stock everything, but if you don’t stock anything then your not really a store just a front. This makes the difference between the fly-by-night guy and a permanent shop that customers can have confidence in. If you don’t have it there is no reason for the customer to buy from your store when he can go online and get it. If you create traffic you will create buyers who buy a Vespa toy for a friend even if he/she do not ride a scooter. This creates cash flow and makes a more interesting store.
Building a good display takes only a few minutes. First you need to figure out what brands you are focused in your store.
Do you really want to promote SYM? How about TGB? Maybe your Kymco lineup?
Call us and stock accessories for your flagship line. Get the tires for the bikes you move the most. Customers don’t want to wait three days for a tire and if your supplier is out of stock then you better be ready. So if your best selling scooter is a TGB 303 then you need to stock tires all the time for the TGB 303.
So what should you stock? Well that all depends on what you carry and we can help you here at MRP with these hard decisions. Do you have accessories for the Maxi Scooters? Do you stock your most common engine cylinders?
A decent dealer has at least $2,500 in accessories on display and $1,000 in tires and cylinders. You can build an incredible performance center with less than $2,000. In most stores this is less than the cost of two units. Scooter/Buggy shops should also have an assortment of apparel and lubricants we suggest at least $2,000 in these items. A total investment of $6,000 will allow you to have a full range of entry level cylinders to the high end aluminum Italian brands. If done correctly this will be one of the most profitable sides of the business.
I’ve looked at the model and if you’re not getting at least $1500 in PG&A from a scooter then you’re not maximizing the potential of the store. To do this you have to have the accessories in stock. Just in Time will not work.
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