A new report from SEMA reveals the percentage of car audio sales performed online.
Fifty-five percent of “Sound System and Audio Accessories” are ordered online, according to SEMA.
SEMA defines Sound System and Accessories as: in-dash stereo systems, satellite radio add-ons, speakers, subwoofers, amplifiers and other mobile electronics products.
In the Alarm/Security category, 51 percent of sales are online. In the Navigation category, 63 percent of sales are online. In Mobile TV/Camera, 66 percent of sales are online and in Wireless and Smartphone Integration, 62 percent of sales are online.
Fifty-four percent of Driver Assist Systems are purchased online.
By comparison, in the auto parts sector, even 56 percent of transmission products are purchased online, as are 49 percent of ignition products.
The SEMA study also revealed that “Specialty Retailer/Installers,” were found to have a 12 percent share of brick and mortar retail sales in the Sound System/Audio Accessories category, and a 7 percent share of the online market. While 12 percent doesn’t seem like a large share, it is the largest share of any other sales channels for brick and mortar stores, according to SEMA.
See the chart below:
In the Alarms/Security sector, specialists took a 15 percent share of the brick and mortar market and a 6 percent share online. For Navigation Systems, specialists took a 6 percent of brick and mortar and 8 percent of online sales. For MobileTV/camera as well as Wireless/Smartphone Integration, and also Driver Assist products, the share for specialists in each category was 8 percent for brick and mortar and 7 percent online.
SEMA considers the Mobile TV category as including dashboard cameras, DVD players, video monitors and mobile satellite TV.
SEMA also predicts an overall drop in 12 volt revenues to $2.73 billion in retail sales this year, down from $3.19 billion in 2019 (not counting ADAS products).
See the full SEMA 2020 Market Report here.
It would be interesting to see how they came up with the small store sales numbers as hardly any small retailers report sales numbers etc to any association.
That said for small independent shops – focus on what you are doing, keep doing it well and service your clients.
Nowadays, most of our products in this industry are professionally installed. With that being said, in order for those numbers to jive, it would mean that at least 1/2 of an independent’s business would come from user-installed installation work. That percentage seems really high to me.