Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM FEBRUARY 2023 56 Rich Lindblom Shopper Marketing Rich Lindblom is a past principal of BrandSource member Advanced Maytag Home Appliance Center and now brings his 40-plus years of hard-won retail experience to bear for the group as product manager of AVB's new SYNC point-of-sale system. You can reach Rich at rich.lindblom@avb.net. RO Over a year ago, I warned that the big box stores would be smart enough to – eventually – figure out the whole pandemic/supply chain issue. And, as much as I hate to say it, I told you so. The members of AVB BrandSource's independent buying group have had a fantastic two-and-a-half-year run, as their ability to turn on a dime to keep the product flowing has kept the customers coming to their stores. But as I predicted, the big box stores have started to figure it out, and over the course of the second half of last year they began to chip away at the market share gains BrandSource members have made since the pandemic began. You may be asking yourself, "What has changed? Why is this happening?" The answer to those questions has two parts. The first part is that the box stores have gotten a lot more aggressive in their advertising, particularly during the heavy promotional holidays like Labor Day, Memorial Day and Black Friday. The second part is that at the same time the box stores got more aggressive, many of our members pulled back on their advertising. Now, don't get me wrong, for many of our dealers, business has been so good for so long that they've understandably cut back on their advertising expenditures, because they literally had more customers than they could handle. But those days are over, folks, and the pandemic-related demand has started to ebb. So, despite the slowing of demand, and because of the big boxes' increased and well-timed advertising, the box stores are starting to chip away at the market share we took from them. The choice is yours. You can let them take back their share without a fight, or you can fight back and retain the gains you've made! How do you fight back? You can stop sitting on the marketing sidelines and get aggressive with your advertising once again. Fortunately, AVB Marketing, our group's advertising, e-commerce digital marketing arm, saw this trend coming, and we've got a plan: Tweak your marketing and concentrate your ad spend on the same promotional periods the box stores have been beating you at. AVB Marketing has simplified the process by developing a comprehensive vendor-supported ad campaign for the first quarter of 2023 that includes Presidents' Day and the bridge promotion known as Spring Black Friday, and by creating automated marketing bundles to engage consumers at every stage of their shopping journey via Google, Facebook, Instagram and email. Under the program, branded appliance advertising is available for LG, Beko, KitchenAid, Maytag, Whirlpool and GE Appliances, Café and Profile, while touted mattress brands include Beautyrest, Sealy, Serta and Tempur-Pedic. (Non-branded promotional themes are also available for appliances, furniture and mattresses.) What's more, in addition to co-op support, participating dealers also receive matching funds from AVB. As AVB Marketing's digital strategy director Chris Swift said, "The strategy is set, the creative is done; a member needs only to 'Plugin and Win!'" So get set up with a customized marketing plan that will not only stop the bleeding but also help you continue growing your market share. At the end of the day, the choice is yours – fight to keep the gains you've made, or let your competition steal it back from you. I know which one I'd be doing. THE GREAT MARKET SHARE RESET HAS BEGUN How independent dealers can keep the box stores at bay

• Cover