Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM APRIL 2024 40 B randSource member Dick Van Dyke Appliance World is the largest appliance dealer in Central Illinois – and if you ask Darrell Haslett, senior vice president of sales, marketing, and merchandising, the company owes more than a little of its success to AVB Marketing's retail technology. Case in point: electronic price tags, which allow dealers to change price points on the fly in response to inventory levels, vendor promotions, or competitive offers. Prior to signing on to the AVB program, Dick Van Dyke regularly generated hundreds of paper tags across its four stores in Springfield, Decatur, Champaign, and Bloomington. The trick, Haslett recalled, was "to get them on the floor and remove them" before a printed sale price promotion was over. Now, "I would never want to run a store without the digital tags," Haslett said. "Having it all automated allows you to spend more time with your customers and on other aspects of your business. I can't imagine doing business without them." It was a scant two years later that Dick Van Dyke waded deeper into the digital waters and found an even greater game changer in HUB – AVB's proprietary digital platform that ties together members' point- of-sale (POS) systems, ALTA websites, LINQ merchandising system, digital price tags, and in-store KIOSQs. Among its other marvels, it also allows dealers and their sales teams to: • Search by specific product attributes like price and size • Screen for items that are in stock or on promotion • Track vendor inventory • Create and send quotes to customers and maintain two-way communication by text, email, or phone • Provide sales teams with promotional road maps and sell plans to help direct their efforts on the showroom floor For Haslett and the Dick Van Dyke team, HUB has proven transformational. "HUB has allowed our staff to quickly see our in-stock inventory," Haslett said. "We are able to search for products based on the customer's criteria and see what select vendors have in-stock. We can also find applicable rebates, upcoming promotions, see when current promotions are ending, and determine which appliances are eligible for our free protection plans, all from one system." HUB's interoperability "makes the sales process faster and more accurate and the shopping experience more pleasing for not only our customer" – who benefits from a faster in-store checkout – "but for our sales staff as well," who can close more sales more efficiently, he said. In addition, HUB can track the status of shoppers' quotes, set up notifications for follow-up, and notify a contractor of a change in specs should a customer choose a different model. From a management perspective, HUB also allows supervisors to monitor the up-sells for each salesperson and their closing rates, as well as record the number of customer stores visits, determine whether the customer is returning from a previous interaction, and even note the number of customers coming in for service, parts or related questions or assistance. Next up for Dick Van Dyke and HUB is a deeper integration with ePass, a BrandSource Gold Provider POS system that allows for deeper views into vendor inventory. "This way, sales completed in HUB and online will not only flow between HUB and our online sales portal but directly in ePass as well," Haslett said. "This will make for an even more seamless process for our staff." And for Dick Van Dyke Appliance World and its embrace of AVB Marketing technology, it's only the beginning. IN IT TO WIN IT It's HUB for the win at Dick Van Dyke Appliance World Andy Kriege Digital Trends Andy Kriege is General Manager of Communications at AVB BrandSource, the nation's largest merchandising and marketing co-op for independent appliance, mattress, furniture and CE dealers. RO Senior VP Haslett, right, says customers are surprised by HUB's sophistication, which provides comprehensive product information along with price quotes and in-stock status

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