Each week, The Pulse provides insight into the buying, sourcing and brand-loyalty habits of counter personnel and professional technicians. This week, using research conducted by the National Catalog Managers Association (NCMA), we look at the counter professional’s first call for replacement parts.
In the NCMA 2008 Catalog Usage Survey for the Automotive Aftermarket, the association set out to study catalog and Internet usage by counter professionals and professional technicians. One of the first questions asked in the survey is: “Who is your first call for a replacement part if you do not have an item in stock?”
Looking at responses from the counter professionals at the store level, we see that an overwhelming majority make the warehouse distributor their first call, while the OE dealer claims less than 10 percent.
For more information, visit the National Catalog Managers Association website: http://ncmacat.org .