LAS VEGAS – Distributor shows don’t typically get started until early December and get in full swing in January, but don’t tell that to the large number of dealers and suppliers who turned out last week for Land ’N’ Sea’s second annual combined RV and marine show at the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa.
Land ’N’ Sea President Michael F. Conners said dealer attendance at the show was up about 10 percent over the previous year and the nearly 300 suppliers stepped up their displays with new products and more visual splash.
Conners said vendors took pre-show orders from dealers on goods that they knew they would need for the next season. That freed them up to spend more time looking at new products.
“We used to do three- or four-day shows, but then we started to think, ‘Doesn’t it make more sense to do pre-show orders two or three weeks before the show?’” Conners said. “Many of our dealers know what they need, and this allows them more time in the booth to spend with the vendors.”
In addition to seeing new product and displays, the dealers could hear about new deals and spiffs that the suppliers are offering as special show deals.
“What the vendors have found over the years is (spiffs) actually drive behavior,” he said. “It’s cash directly back to them on the spot. We work with the vendor on progressive pricing and then they work on the cash spiff. For them, they’re going to see the advantage because they see the orders up front, and it helps them by the end of the show season to understand exactly what the market should look like next year.”
To give the suppliers incentive to make their booths more visually appealing, Conners said Land ’N’ Sea also offered bonuses for “best booth” competition.
RV dealers in attendance mostly said Land ’N’ Sea is their secondary distributor, but that they were getting some ideas from the presence of marine vendors for potential crossover products that they hadn’t thought about before.
“I actually kind of like it,” said Dennis Grossenbacher of Fun-N-Sun RV, with two locations in Michigan. “It opened my eyes to some potential for crossover.”
Grossenbacher said Land ’N’ Sea is his primary distributor for parts because in his location he is able to receive daily deliveries during the week.
