Page 8 - OPE November 2020

MARKETPLACE
Walk-behind mowers
The grass
is greener
post-lockdown
Robust sales in walk-behind mower categories have led to supply problems for some manufacturers at the peak of another promising season. Andy Kerr reports.
A BRAND GURU recently shared his four-pronged strategy for coping with the projected turmoil
of 2020, and it went something like this:
• Monitorbusinessviability.
• Expanddigitalisation.
• Maintain retailer and customer
interaction and communication.
• Focusonthebounce-back.
We’re pleased to report that the bounce- back has been swift because the slide in outdoor power sales that many feared simply never materialised.
And, with grass growth now at its peak and the season in full swing, the biggest challenge appears to be sourcing adequate stock and fulfilling customer orders in good time.
Supply issues evident but
not rampant
“Sales across all Honda product, including lawncare, has been exceptional,” says HPENZ manager, Bruce Wooding, considering “at one stage we were worried how we were going to get through the year!
“It’s taken us all by surprise,” Bruce admits, adding that this may be the start of a global shortage of mower supply, even ride-ons.
“It’s down to record sales,” he says of the New Zealand market, “and the Australian and European markets are the same.
“People aren’t travelling, they’re not expecting to travel for a while, they’ve got spare money, and they’re spending on products around the house.”
Over at Steelfort, GM of Marketing, Gavin Lowndes, describes business as “very buoyant” but stresses that there’s a lot of work going in behind the scenes to try to keep it there, thanks to current challenges in
the supply chain.
“Stock deliveries are such a major issue
for everyone, it doesn’t matter what industry you’re in.”
Anotherkeyissuerightnow?“Tryingto keeppeopleupdatedastowherewe’reatis vital. We’re in constant communication with our suppliers and customers alike.”
Despitethis,forSteelfort,Gavinsaysthe supply of walk-behind mowers has generally been maintained, despite the significant lift in sales and overall global supply issues.
“We have experienced short-term outages, which may continue through until the end of the year, but generally this has not been a major issue.”
Rapid turnaround in sentiment
Husqvarna Sales Manager, Steve Middleton, says he’s pleasantly surprised with how business has trended but explains that much of what’s happening now is due to orders placed last year.
“We’ve had rolling shipments throughout the year,” he says, at the same time admitting to have experienced some delays with certain items getting to the shelves.
Along with his team, Steve is another
to have worked hard recently in a bid to keep Husky’s dealers up to date in a rapidly changing marketplace.
“Yes, we’ve had to ramp up communication with the retailers but we’re happy with where we’re at, with phenomenal sales after the lockdown period.”
That’s today, but tomorrow, he says: “Who knows? You could have a container ship held up and that would cause a setback.
“We did, however, set forward orders for 2021 long ago, from production to factory
08 NZOUTDOORPOWEREQUIPMENT NOVEMBER2020
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