Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM JULY 2019 56 J ust like traditional retailers, rent-to-own (RTO) dealers are facing significant challenges due to changes in the economic landscape, and in customer demographics. How RTO dealers respond is bound to affect their businesses as the RTO environment evolves. First – tariffs. Many of the items carried by RTO dealers rely on Chinese suppliers. There's still a little time left to stock up, but if agreements aren't reached by late 2019, price increases will be unavoidable. Dealers need to be thinking about how they'll address the impending changes. Some of the offerings that furniture vendors supply to TRIB Group (The Rental Industry Buying Group) are made in Vietnam, the U.S., or elsewhere, and our TRIB member dealers would be wise to identify which products come from where. Another ongoing change is traditional retailers entering the RTO space, which may offer unforeseen advantages. The name-brand retailers may actually help promote the rent-to-own buying concept, by bringing lease or rent-to-own into the mainstream, particularly among younger customers for whom leasing is more in tune with their lifestyle and preferences. Traditional RTO dealers will also need to pay attention to the demographics of their current customer base. We're asking our members to do some research to identify how today's age demographic compares to what it was ten years ago. It's important to embrace marketing strategies that will reach younger audiences and offer products that will serve this customer base. If you're selling to the same customers you had a decade ago, you'll need to make changes. While competing with the national retail chains may seem like an intimidating prospect, it may actually help make lease-to-own a preferred format for the millennial generation that wants to avoid credit-card debt. At TRIB Group we're helping our dealers navigate the changing landscape. The educational sessions we offer at our member meetings are addressing the challenges, through presentations by highly successful members and other experts who can offer proven, practical strategies for marketing and business development. Two such opportunities will be available this year. The first is RTO World, a conference to be hosted by TRIB Group and APRO (the Association of Progressive Rental Organizations) on Aug. 6-8, 2019 in Louisville, KY. The conference will offer a full schedule of educational and training sessions for both owners and store management, as well as a buy fair. TRIB Group will also host a Meeting of the Minds show in Atlanta on Feb. 23-26, 2020. We're excited about the event because it's a homecoming of sorts – TRIB Group hosted its first Meeting of the Minds in Atlanta, and we're thrilled to be returning to our hometown. The show will feature an exciting Hot Show buying event, as well as educational sessions and a trade show/buy fair at Cobb Galleria. If you're a TRIB Group member, or an RTO dealer not currently affiliated with TRIB and vendor companies that may be a good fit for selling in this channel, we encourage you to contact us to learn more about the group and the upcoming events. MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF CHANGE IN RENT-TO-OWN Dennis Shields Rent-to-Own Trends Dennis Shields is executive director of TRIB Group, the nation's largest owner/member buying cooperative serving the rent-to-own retail channel. For more information, please visit www.tribgroup.com or call (770) 451-4302. RO

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