When the seasons change will your hose range cope? Will you run short of the hoses and accessories your customers need and force them to go elsewhere? Or will you be left with high stocks of products that won’t be required for many months?
Of course for some products it isn’t always as simple as dates in the calendar marking the traditional arrival of a new season. Weather patterns are increasingly extreme and unpredictable with “unseasonable” events happening more and more often. We can get snow in late spring and warm dry weather in the Autumn. And some hoses, for example those used for pumping flood water or irrigation in dry weather can be needed at almost any time of the year. You might find our recent blog article about wet weather interesting.
In the automotive aftermarket, very cold or very warm weather can place additional strain on a wide variety of hoses including fuel, oil and coolant, resulting in unexpected failure and the need for replacement. In addition, hot weather and sunlight in particular can dramatically shorten the life of hoses used outdoors.
But of course, seasonality does still exist and it changes our behaviour and as a consequence our purchasing. Spring and summer always sees people return to those warmer weather activities including gardening and camping, which in turn drives demand for good quality hoses and accessories.
At Winster, we’ve been coping with the rapidly fluctuating demand for different hoses for over 70 years. We use that our experience and our long-term supplier relationships to build stocks ahead of forecast demand, and our 28,000 ft2 warehouse gives us the capacity to hold buffer stocks of the most popular items. In summary, we do everything possible to ensure we are ready to supply our resellers with all the hoses and accessories they need, whatever the catalyst and however hard it is to predict. We understand the importance of having the right items in stock and not disappointing valuable customers.
We also work with our resellers and share our knowledge to advise them when to increase and reduce stock levels. We even have seasonal product listings with some customers to help them make best use of their storage and display space.
If you would like to talk to us about your specific requirements and how we can help, please call us on 01902 606010 or use our web contact form .