Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM OCTOBER 2018 54 NATIONWIDE SPOTLIGHTS RTO AT PRIMETIME IN LAS VEGAS RentDirect division "brings it" with discounts, education, digital marketing and more A s thousands of independent dealers convened at Nation- wide Marketing Group's PrimeTime in Las Vegas, the organization's commitment to RTO was on display. PrimeTime time is Nationwide's buying show, educational event, marketing summit and member conference, providing the industry's largest networking opportunity for independent dealers and vendors in North America. The show's kickoff featured a keynote from Admiral William McRaven. Admiral McRaven, credited with planning the Bin Laden operation, shared lessons he learned through his career as a Navy Seal and then connected those lessons to everyday life and to our daily business life. The thousands of Nationwide members in attendance reacted with a sincere standing ovation for a rousing PrimeTime kick-off. The show floor was packed with hundreds of vendors and, according to Nationwide's RTO Director Bruce Manning, "The deals were deexp and almost every vendor was more than willing to sell their products to RTO members. This show had an obvious focus on service and digital marketing, in fact Nationwide announced their Google Premier partnership there." Google experts were featured heavily in the curriculum of more than 100 learning classes with a session called "Reach New Customers with AdWords" that was just as relevant for RTO members as for retail members. The emphasis on service and marketing continued into the traditional RentDirect Hot Show which featured special discounts and opportunities for RTO only. Just prior to the start of the Hot Show, Manning announced that every member in attendance would get a website produced for them by RWS. These websites can display unlimited products and allow customers to do business on the site. Manning stated, "We are trying to do more than just give members great deals at our Hot Show. We are trying to help bring more customers through their doors to buy those great deals. We all know that RTO customers use their phones too, and members without real websites are losing business. We're all concerned with the potential loss of business due to third-party financing at retail. RentDirect is helping members keep those customers in the RTO channel, and digital marketing is essential." Nationwide followed up PrimeTime with a major presence at RTO World in St Louis that highlighted an array of other marketing programs from RentDirect to help grow members' RTO business. It is clear that RentDirect, thanks to their billions in buying power, will always bring great deals to their members. But in addition, they add value through the variety of vendor choices, marketing support and education. For more information on Nationwide's Rent- Direct division, please contact Bruce Manning at Bruce.Manning@Nationwidegroup.org or 919.522.2355 RO Bruce Manning Rent-to-Own Trends Bruce Manning — Director, Nationwide RentDirect

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