Nationwide Marketing Group didn’t need a full-blown report to know that members of the Home Technology Specialists Nationwide (HTSN) division are a resilient bunch. But the new HTSN Member Report painted a clear picture of just how much this group thrived over the past 18 months, how confident they are that their success will carry through at least the end of this year — and so much more.
Nationwide Marketing Group works on behalf of thousands of Independent owners of appliance, furniture, bedding, electronics, specialty electronics, custom installation and rent-to-own dealers helping them grow their businesses and thrive on their own terms. With more than 5,000 members operating some 14,000 storefronts, Nationwide Marketing Group is the largest buying, marketing and business support organization of its kind
Survey Launched in May
In late May, HTSN launched a comprehensive survey of its members, which included questions related to their business, their choice in product, how they prefer to acquire product, marketing tactics, outreach efforts in the architect/builder/design community, and more. The results of that survey were compiled, analyzed and, in some instances, put up against related industry data to help produce the first-ever HTSN Member Report.
“Conducting a report like this allows us to get more information about a broad range of topics that we can turn into actionable initiatives for our members,” said HTSN Director Hank Alexander. “We’re in constant contact with our dealers, talking to them about business, how things are going and where we can offer more support. This report takes those conversations and turns them into data points that we can track over time. Even in this first report, it was so interesting to uncover different aspects of how our members conduct business and ways we might be able to help support them along the way.”
Gauging HTSN Custom Integrator COVID-19 Response
One of the key motivators behind the idea of the HTSN Member Report was gauging how Nationwide’s custom integration dealers held up during the pandemic. What the report found is that, not only did HTSN dealers survive one of the most volatile economic periods of our time, but they thrived. Nearly 57% of the HTSN membership said business was up during the past 18 months, and another 36% reported that business was on par with pre-pandemic times.
Less than 7% of the membership said business shrank during that period. And looking ahead, those numbers only get better. When asked how they’re projecting their custom integration to perform for 2021, over 64% of HTSN dealers expect their business to be up with another 32% anticipating business will remain flat. Just 3% of dealers said they are expecting a decline in business in 2021.
“This report really creates a baseline for the HTSN membership,” Alexander said. “We know that they’re projecting their business way up again this year. What does that look like for 2022 and ’23? How do we take those trends and calculate where the business is going? And what are the new technologies that guys are looking at? There’s just so much data and opportunity that comes out of a report like this. And by no means is it a one-and-done kind of initiative. We’ll look to build off of this and find ways to refine it and improve it moving forward.”
Nationwide presented on the findings of the report during the HTSN Member Meeting at PrimeTime in Nashville.
