20 • August 2026 • Powersports Business

Customers decide whether a store is worth their time in under eight seconds. In that window, they’ ve already determined whether they want to explore, whether they’ ll engage with your staff, and whether they’ ll ever come back.

WHAT YOU’ RE LOSING You may not be aware of the sales you’ re losing every single day because customers don’ t tell you. They don’ t file complaints. They don’ t write reviews because the endcap was confusing or the apparel rack hadn’ t been touched in two months. They simply vote with their wallets. They buy, or they don’ t. They come back, or they don’ t.

Consider this: 76 % of shoppers have walked out of a store without buying because they couldn’ t find what they were looking for. Not because you didn’ t have it. Because they couldn’ t find it— and they didn’ t want to ask.

Some customers won’ t engage with staff. They want to find it themselves. If your layout doesn’ t support that, they’ re gone. Your average ticket will tell you this story if you’ re willing to read it honestly.

Aged product, poor adjacencies, inaccessible displays— these don’ t just hurt aesthetics. They cost margin. Yes, people will buy from stores that aren’ t optimized. But don’ t expect repeat business on highticket items or apparel. Don’ t expect to be seen as anything more than a place to grab an oil filter. The ceiling on what a disorganized floor can achieve is low— and it’ s self-imposed.

THE MARKDOWN PROBLEM One costly powersports habit is waiting too long to mark down slow inventory. By the time many dealers act, the best-selling window has already passed. Markdown timing

is not just an inventory issue. It is a margin, floor-space, and cash-flow issue, and most stores are reacting too late.

When product misses its season, the cost shows up quietly: deeper discounts, weaker sell-through, tired displays, and open-to-buy trapped in inventory that should have moved sooner. The fix is not complicated, but it does require discipline, timing, and a merchandising plan that sees the season before it passes you by.

UNDERUSED PROFIT CENTER I can’ t stress this enough: Parts and Accessories are a growth and profit opportunity that most dealerships are leaving on the table.

The accessories business has grown enormously over the past 25 years— especially alongside the explosion of side-by-sides. And yet many stores still treat merchandising as an afterthought. There’ s often what I call an R & R problem in parts departments: a lack of Respect and Resources. These departments get the leftover space, the junior staff, and the last dollar of the training budget.

That’ s backwards. A well-run P & A operation with trained staff, smart displays, strong adjacencies, and a properly maintained floor doesn’ t just contribute to the bottom line— it transforms it. Higher attachment rates on unit sales. Faster turns on consumables. Fewer markdowns. A measurably higher average order value. And customers come back because they associate your store with the full experience of ownership, not just the transaction.