What Should a Car Audio Shop Keep in Stock?

One of the hardest parts of running a car audio shop is deciding what products deserve space on your shelves and what products should be special ordered.

You want enough inventory to take care of customers when they walk through the door, but you also don't want thousands of dollars tied up in products that might sit for six months.

The answer isn't simply stocking more.

It's stocking smarter.

A good car audio inventory should give your salespeople enough products to build complete systems, handle common installations, grab those extra add-on sales, and offer customers choices without filling every inch of your shop with slow-moving inventory.

AudioResellerz works with shops, installers, retailers, and resellers looking for wholesale car audio products for dealers. Here are some of the products we think deserve the most attention when deciding what to keep on the shelf.

Start With the Products You Sell Every Day

Before worrying about stocking every amplifier, every subwoofer size, and every speaker available, look at what your customers actually ask for every week.

Your core inventory should be products that can move repeatedly.

For many car audio shops, that means things like:

• Popular amplifier sizes
• Common subwoofer sizes
• 6.5-inch speakers
• 6x9 speakers
• Amp wiring kits
• Power and ground wire
• Speaker wire
• RCA cables
• Fuse holders and fuses
• Battery terminals
• Distribution blocks
• Installation accessories

These products give you the building blocks for a large percentage of everyday car audio sales.

If somebody walks into your shop Saturday afternoon wanting to add a subwoofer and amplifier to their vehicle, you want to be able to say:

“Yep, we can put that together for you.”

Not:

“We can order everything and hopefully have it next week.”

Stock the Small Stuff That Finishes the Sale

Some of the most important inventory in your shop may also be some of the least exciting.

Everybody wants amplifiers and subwoofers displayed on the wall.

But don't forget:

• Ring terminals
• Copper lugs
• Heat shrink
• Firewall grommets
• Battery terminals
• Extended battery posts
• Wire reducers
• Ferrules
• Fuse holders
• Replacement fuses
• Distribution blocks
• Remote wire
• Speaker wire
• RCA cables
• Wire loom

A customer can spend $1,000 on equipment and still be unable to complete the installation because they're missing a $10 part.

Those little products are also perfect add-ons.

If a customer buys an amplifier, don't just ring it up. Ask whether they have the wiring kit. Then ask how they're connecting it to the battery. Ask whether they have fuse protection. Ask how they're going through the firewall.

We've covered that sales strategy in our AudioResellerz Learning article about increasing car audio sales with easy add-on products.

Amp Kits Should Be Easy to Grab

If you sell amplifiers, you should have amplifier wiring available.

That sounds obvious, but it is easy to lose an additional sale when the customer buys an amp from you and then goes somewhere else for the wiring.

Keep a reasonable selection that covers the systems you sell most often.

You don't necessarily need every possible combination hanging on the wall. You need enough options that your salesperson can match an appropriate kit to the equipment the customer is buying.

AudioResellerz dealers can browse the Sky High Car Audio wholesale dealer collection and American Bass wholesale car audio products when building out their shop's product selection.

For customer education, you can also send people to the Audio Sellerz car audio amp kit collection or the CCA vs OFC amplifier wiring kit guide.

Keep Power Wire and Speaker Wire Available

Bulk wire gives a shop flexibility.

A customer may need an entire amp kit, but another customer may only need 10 feet of power wire, a new ground cable, speaker wire for a subwoofer box, or additional wiring for a second amplifier.

Having commonly used wire available lets you sell exactly what the customer needs instead of losing the sale because you don't have the small part required to finish the job.

It also helps your installers when a vehicle requires a little more wire than originally expected.

Customers who want to learn more about wire sizing can use the Audio Sellerz car audio wire size and OFC vs CCA guide or the car audio wire gauge and fuse guide.

You can also direct retail customers to car audio power wire and speaker wire at Audio Sellerz.

Fuse Holders and Fuses Are Shelf Products

Fuse protection should not be something your shop has to special order every time.

If you're selling amplifier wiring, Big 3 upgrades, battery runs, or electrical upgrades, keep commonly used fuse holders and replacement fuses available.

These are inexpensive compared with major car audio equipment, don't require a huge display area, and are products customers regularly discover they need in the middle of an installation.

Retail customers can browse car audio fuse holders and fuse blocks from Audio Sellerz when they need additional fusing products.

Stock a Good, Better and Best Option

You don't necessarily need ten different amplifiers that all solve the same problem.

Sometimes three good choices are better than ten confusing choices.

Think about building your showroom around:

Good.

A solid entry-level option for the customer working with a tighter budget.

Better.

Your middle option that fits a large percentage of your everyday customers.

Best.

A stronger option for the customer who wants more performance or is building a larger system.

This strategy can work with amplifiers, subwoofers, speakers, wiring, and even electrical upgrades.

Instead of filling your shelves with products that compete against each other, give your salesperson clear steps to move the customer through.

Stock the Subwoofer Sizes Customers Actually Buy

Subwoofers can consume a lot of floor and shelf space quickly.

That doesn't mean you need every size, series, impedance, and model sitting in inventory.

Look at your sales.

Which sizes actually move?

If your customers constantly ask for 10-inch and 12-inch subs but you rarely sell an 18-inch subwoofer, your inventory should reflect that.

You can still offer the larger or less common product.

It just may make more sense as a special order.

That keeps your money available for products you can sell repeatedly instead of tying it up in one impressive-looking subwoofer that spends a year sitting on a shelf.

Dealers can explore brands such as Sky High Car Audio dealer products, American Bass dealer products, and Prodigy Audio wholesale products when deciding what fits their customer base.

Don't Forget Mids, Highs and Replacement Speakers

Bass gets a lot of attention in car audio, but speakers give your shop another category that can produce consistent sales.

Keep common replacement and upgrade sizes in mind.

A customer who comes in asking for louder bass may also have factory door speakers that can't keep up with the rest of the system.

That creates another opportunity to build a more complete system.

AudioResellerz dealers can look through GaleForce Audio dealer products, Sky High Car Audio products for dealers, and the full AudioResellerz wholesale catalog when planning speaker inventory.

Electrical Products Can Turn Into Bigger Sales

Electrical upgrades deserve their own place in your sales process.

A customer buying a larger amplifier may eventually need more than an amp kit.

The conversation may lead to:

• Big 3 wiring
• Better grounds
• Battery terminals
• Additional power wire
• Battery support
• High-output alternators
• Fuse protection

You don't necessarily need to keep every vehicle-specific alternator sitting on a shelf.

That's a great example of something that can be sold when needed instead of tying up inventory in hundreds of different applications.

But your staff should know that the option exists.

AudioResellerz dealers can browse Advanced Electric car audio batteries for dealers and Brand X high-output alternators when building electrical upgrade packages.

For customers who need help understanding the complete electrical side of a build, send them to the Audio Sellerz step-by-step car audio electrical upgrade guide.

They can also browse car audio Big 3 upgrade kits and other car audio electrical upgrade products at Audio Sellerz.

Special Order the Stuff That Doesn't Need to Sit on Your Shelf

There is nothing wrong with telling a customer:

“Yep, we can get that for you.”

Not every product needs to be physically sitting in your store.

Some products make much more sense as special orders, especially when there are many vehicle applications, sizes, configurations, or expensive options that may not turn quickly.

The goal is to stock enough products to take care of normal everyday business while using your distributor to expand what you can offer beyond what fits inside your building.

That's one of the biggest reasons having a good distributor matters.

Your warehouse doesn't have to be your showroom.

Use Your Distributor as an Extension of Your Inventory

A dealer shouldn't have to personally own every piece of equipment they are capable of selling.

Your distributor can effectively become an extension of your inventory.

Keep your strongest sellers and installation essentials in the store.

Then use your distributor for the additional products, special applications, larger builds, and less-common requests.

This allows you to offer customers more choices without having all of your cash tied up on the shelves.

AudioResellerz dealers can browse the complete wholesale car audio dealer catalog to see products that can help expand what their shop offers.

Watch What Customers Keep Asking For

Your customers will tell you what you should stock if you pay attention.

If three people ask for the same product in one week and you don't have it, write it down.

If your salesperson repeatedly says:

“Man, I wish we kept these in stock.”

Pay attention.

If a product sits on the shelf for a year without anybody touching it, pay attention to that too.

Your inventory should evolve based on what is actually happening inside your shop.

Don't Let Personal Preference Control the Entire Showroom

This is an easy mistake to make in car audio.

We all have products we personally like.

That doesn't automatically mean they're the products your customers are going to buy the most.

Stock products based on:

• What customers ask for
• What your installers use regularly
• What sells consistently
• What produces useful add-on sales
• What fits your local market
• What you can confidently sell
• What helps you build complete systems

Your favorite piece of equipment can still be part of the showroom.

Just don't let personal preference put all of your inventory money into products your customers aren't buying.

Make Sure Your Staff Knows What You Have

Inventory doesn't help you if your employees don't know it exists.

If you add new battery terminals, fuse holders, wiring accessories, speakers, amplifiers, or other products, make sure everybody who talks to customers knows:

• What the product is
• Where it is
• What problem it solves
• When they should recommend it

A salesperson can't add a $20 accessory to a ticket if they don't know you have it hanging six feet behind them.

Build Inventory Around Complete Car Audio Systems

One of the easiest ways to evaluate your inventory is to pretend a customer walks in tomorrow and wants a complete system.

Can you sell them:

• The subwoofers?
• The enclosure?
• The amplifier?
• The amp kit?
• The power and ground wire?
• The fuse protection?
• The RCA cables or signal integration?
• The speaker wire?
• The battery connections?
• The electrical upgrades if needed?

If you can sell the exciting products but you're constantly missing the products needed to connect everything together, that's where you should start improving your inventory.

Stock What Sells. Order What Doesn't. Have Access to Everything Else.

You don't win by having the most products sitting in your building.

You win by having the right products available when customers need them.

Keep the everyday sellers on the shelf.

Keep plenty of the small installation products that complete jobs and increase tickets.

Keep enough choices to give your salespeople good, better, and best options.

Special order expensive and uncommon products that don't need to consume your cash.

And work with a distributor that gives you access to more products when your customer asks for something you don't currently have.

If you're looking to expand what your shop can offer, browse the AudioResellerz wholesale car audio catalog or contact AudioResellerz about opening a dealer account.

Helpful Audio Sellerz Resources

Need something educational to send your customers? These Audio Sellerz resources can help explain the products and upgrades you're recommending:

• Car audio wire gauge and fuse size guide
• Car audio amp kits: CCA vs OFC guide
• Complete car audio wiring diagram guide
• Step-by-step car audio electrical upgrade guide
• Car audio power and speaker wire
• Car audio amplifier wiring kits
• Car audio fuse holders and fuse blocks
• Car audio Big 3 upgrade kits

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