The Influence of Tyre Tests On Sales Figures In The Retail Business

The tyre tests appear normally twice a year in spring and in autumn. Millions of people at least notice them, and among these many even study them very intensively. The topic discussed here is the tyre tests which appear regularly every year in the big end consumer-oriented automotive magazines in Germany.

Their judgement has a significant impact on the consumers. The tyre manufacturers know this for a fact and promote positive test results in their advertising campaigns. A note as “very recommendable”, for example, serves as a kind of award, which has a strong convincing effect in the tyre retail shop.

However, if the product fails in all important magazines the result will be the opposite and the whole thing can end in disaster. Tyre manufacturers fear these situations, specially when they have introduced a new product to the market. Tyre retailers use positive test results often as an additional argument in a sales discussion with the customer.

There is just one small problem: the exact influence of tyre tests on sales in the retail shops – in the sense of knowing the precise percentage of customers who buy a special tyre just because of the test result – is very difficult to measure. But there are some qualitative characteristics of tests that can be found out without problems:Tyre tests have a different relevance and coverage. The effect of tyre tests on customers is of a limited time – especially in the winter-season.

The sell-in of the retailer is just as influenced indirectly (backwards) by tyre tests. Experiences from the previous tests play a role. The influence of winter tyre-tests is regarded as much higher than those of summer tyre tests by retailers and customers.