StreetFX goal: Less product, more turns

New approach allows dealers to lighten inventory

By Liz Keener
Managing Editor

Inventory control has been a hot topic over the past few years. Dealers want enough product to draw customers in and to close sales, but they also don’t want to have too much cash tied up in too many products.

Luckily for current and future StreetFX dealers, parent company Buztronics Inc. has dramatically cut its number of SKUs while also improving its products, allowing dealers to appeal to more customers while also decreasing the amount of product they need to carry from the lighting company.

“We’re actually consolidating our product line down to a practical application. So we’re taking dealers’ inventories down from 28, 29 pieces that used to do seven colors down to one piece that does 15 colors. So we doubled the number of colors and cut the SKU count to one, so that’s a real simple way of doing it. It allows all the capability to integrate that kit and let the customer grow,” Tommy McNab, vice president of Buztronics’ Power Sports Division, told Powersports Business at the Tucker Rocky Brand Expo.

Color-changing kits

StreetFX has developed new Color-Changing Flex Kits, which offer 15 colors, whereas in the past, a variety of kits had to be carried that produced only one color each. McNab was involved in the project that was designed to help dealers lessen their StreetFX stock.

“Its major benefits to the dealers is to be able to actually get better turns on their inventory itself by having to stock fewer SKUs and be able to reach a broader audience. Now it’s going to allow for better profitability of the product itself,” McNab explained. “Less inventory, better turns is really in a nutshell what we’re looking for.”

Not only were the SKUs decreased, but the product was improved as well. First, because the new kits offer more than one color, customers are able to change their bike’s lighting as their mood, outfit or day changes. In the past, if customers grew tired of the StreetFX lights on their bikes, they had to buy a new kit and uninstall the original kit.

“With the new lights, using the RGB strips, it gives us the capability to try other lights while they’re on the bike, and they find a favorite,” McNab said.

The new solution fits perfect with the trend toward personalization, as customers are personalizing everything from their M&Ms to their shoes.

“You guys see personalization on your iPhones, everything, your purses — just things that you’ve been able to add personality and character to. The lights are going to be that same thing for your bike,” McNab said.

In addition to increasing its color choices, StreetFX also improved the colors its lights were producing.

“I went in and reworked all my colors, so now I have much brighter, much more vivid colors, much more dynamic, and it does show a lot better in the accents of the bikes,” McNab said.

The new Flex Kits also come in a “good, better, best” configuration, allowing customers options when purchasing, and giving dealers and easy way to upsell to the higher-cost kits. The “good” Color-Changing Flex Kit comes with six 4-inch strips offering the 15-color spectrum, with the colors being controlled by a switch on the bike; the “better” kit comes with 10 strips and a remote that riders can use when off their bike, and the “best” kit also has 10 strips, but it allows customers to control their lights via a smartphone app, letting them ditch the remote. StreetFX has created a planogram for “good, better, best” POP, a program that received high marks from dealers at the Tucker Rocky Brand Expo.

“Go Pro has a brilliant idea of a small kiosk setup that has ‘good, better, best’ with a lot of accessories that complement their products. We’ve set up that same scenario for the dealer’s retail floor — a ‘good, better, best’ set with kits, all the accessories to complement them that they can put into a little 3-by-3-foot space and become a very profitable corner of their store,” McNab said.

Lighting popularity

Along with the Flex Kits, StreetFX was also showcasing its Flex Pro Color-Changing Rim/Puck Light Pack.

“I’ve had a lot of people over the years working shows going, ‘How do I light up my chrome wheels.’ How do you light up something that’s spinning 60 mph?” McNab said. “So we spent some time, and we worked on this, and we found a new puck that attaches to the back of the brake calipers, and actually it works in conjunction with our kit and changes colors as our kit goes through. It gives you a 360-degree light pattern and lights up every chrome wheel we’ve put them on.”

StreetFX believes it will have a bright future — pun intended — as riders still seek lighting for personalization and safety. McNab says throughout the year, he often has law enforcement officers approach his booth, talking about how they’d rather see a brightly lit bike than see riders get hit because they aren’t visible enough. With the color-changing lights, too, riders will be able to change their lightning colors, as they ride from state and state.

“Each state has different laws and regulations, and as you enter into a new state, you’re not sure what it is. So if red is illegal in a state, you can actually take your lights and switch them from red to green. If blue’s illegal in a state, you can take them from blue to yellow, and you get into it and ride and be safe and be seen with whatever color that’s available that’s legal,” McNab said. psb