From aftermarketNews/Counterman staff reports
Each week, The Pulse provides insight into the buying, sourcing and brand-loyalty habits of counter professionals and professional technicians. This week, we look at technicians’ sourcing habits for AC refrigerant.
Counterman research shows that jobbers are the leading source for technicians looking for AC refrigerant, with 60 percent of shops choosing jobbers as their primary source. Retailers come in as second choice with 20 percent of technicians and 8 percent of technicians go directly to their WD for AC refrigerant.
Following the AC refrigerant switch from R-12 to R-134a that took place in the 1990s, confusion in the marketplace has subsided greatly, thanks to the decreased number of vehicles that use R-12. This had made availability less of a priority. Fastest delivery turns out to be the primary reason that the majority of technicians (42 percent) go to their ‘first call.’ Thirty-four percent of technicians say a source’s good sales reps are the primary reason they make a jobber or retailer their first call for AC refrigerant.
When it comes to brands, the majority of technicians (39 percent) say they ‘only use the brand I trust,’ when selecting one brand over another. Thirty-two percent use the lowest price as their deciding factor and 20 percent trust their source to choose the brand for them.
These and other statistics can be found in the Professional Automotive Repair Technician Survey (P.A.R.T.S.), p rod uced annually by Counterman magazine. Seven years ago, Counterman began surveying repair shops annually to determine when, how and why they source specific automotive parts and p rod ucts. The resulting data, published every Fall, offers perspective on how sourcing and brand-loyalty trends have changed.
