Everyone is doing their best to keep customers stocked these days but some vendors make more efforts than others due to the immediacy of the consumer’s demand.
For example, a stationary solar project could always be slightly delayed due to solar panel shortage, but what about the consumer who clicks BUY NOW? If he/she can’t, they may be lost forever to the dealer. I think the key is to be honest with your customers. Some may not like what you have to say, but you need to say it. Rather than aggravate by sticking your head in the sand, tell the truth and deal with it together.
Some retailers even go to the point of telling people when they will have the new stock. Northern Tools is a great example of this, where they tell customers who would call today that any 30, 80 or 125Watt modules are not in stock until January 2006. And they have been in that status for over 60 days, so just imagine the lost sales! I applaud their candor. They figure that either you’ll buy another solar panel that is in stock or you’ll at least know to trust them when they let you know what their situation is. Other dealers might just take your order and make you call and call and call!
Other “e-tailers” like Costco.com take an even more radical approach. They recently removed a competitor’s offerings from their website since they could not ship the goods to end-consumers who would anxiously await their merchandise once their credit cards were charged. Costco’s take on it is that if it can’t be shipped, don’t advertise it. With the moving target of deliveries these days, they simply don’t want to have to keep updating availability.
From discussions with other vendors, like Sharp, they are sold out for 13 months! Guess some of us should have bought futures in solar energy company stocks! If a distributor is telling you otherwise, ask them for a delivery guarantee…and see them develop a nervous twitch!
There are some disruptive technologies slated to start in mid 2006. Let’s hope they help alleviate this terrible situation for the industry otherwise the wild growth rates that we have been used to will not materialize as consumers flock to other power solutions.
Sass