market data

Our quarterly dealer survey lets us peer into your businesses and share a broad view of business conditions in outdoor power equipment . Thank you to all who contribute to this information gathering .

And who are you ? Who responded to this survey ? It ’ s a blend of OPE dealers nationwide . Just less than one quarter of respondents count annual revenue below $ 500,000 . And just more than a quarter bring in more than $ 4 million in revenue annually . Nearly half ( 48 percent ) say their annual revenue is $ 2 million or more . That high-revenue group is larger for this Q2 survey than the 40 percent reporting $ 2MM-plus revenue in the Q1 survey .

A majority , 88 percent , are “ owners ” of an independent power-equipment sales and service business . Also , 81 percent have one location , and 17 percent have 2 or 3 locations . This is consistent with recent quarterly surveys , with one-location owners accounting for between 80 and 90 percent of respondents .

What products do these businesses carry ? A wide mix , but

25 %

20 %

15 %

10 %

5 %

0 %

SATISFIED : RATE YOUR SATISFACTION WITH BEING AN OPE DEALER AT THE CURRENT TIME ( 1-NOT AT ALL SATISFIED AND 10-EXTREMELY SATISFIED )

5.8 %

0.0 %

7.7 %

1.9 %

21.2 %

13.5 %

21.2 %

17.3 %

5.8 % 5.8 %

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Source for all charts on pages 13-15 : OPE Business

1

0.5

0

Overall Business Conditions

more than half carry all of these products : battery-powered equipment , blowers , brushcutters , chain saws , edgers , engines , fuel additives , generators , hedge trimmers , mowers ( riding , stand on , zero turn , walk behind ), pressure washers , string trimmers , tillers .

A small number ( less than 15 percent ) carry these items : apparel , ATVs , boats , trailers , excavators , go-karts , grills , motorcycles , robotic mowers , rakes , scrapers , skid-steers , snowmobiles , top dressers , trenchers , golf carts . Let ’ s get into Q2 business conditions .

Satisfied ? We ask : Rate your satisfaction with being an OPE dealer at the current time , on a scale of 1 to 10 , with 1 being “ not at all satisfied ” and 10 being “ extremely satisfied .”

In Q2 survey reporting , we see a shift to the middle on the “ satisfaction ” question . Nearly three-quarters ( 73 percent ) of dealers scored this from 5 through 8 ( see chart to the left ). Drilling deeper , nearly 35 percent of dealers scored this one 5-6 , compared to only 22 percent rating it 5-6 in the Q1 survey . While scores at the high end , 7 through 10 , accounted for just 50 percent . That ’ s a big drop from the Q1 survey where 61 percent leaned toward “ extremely satisfied .”

We can speculate why “ satisfaction ” might have been lower during the second quarter of 2023 . A drought in the Midwest and South regions of the country during May and June had business impacts for dealers and their customers , especially commercial customers . Other possible causes can be seen in the ensuing data report .

F & I

www . OPEBusiness . com September 2023 OPE Business 13