RVIA said the 50th annual RV Aftermarket Conference last week drew 219 attendees, calling the attendance significant growth from the last in-person event in 2019.
The conference featured 30-minute meetings between companies to network and discuss new and upcoming projects. For the first time, the conference added a consumer-focused workshop.
The workshop was designed to help bridge the knowledge gap between new RV consumers and how aftermarket products are applied, RVIA stated. Included in the session were RV dealers, RV Technical Institute Executive Director Curt Hemmeler and social media influencers The Wanderpreneurs, an RVing family that documents their travel journey.
The session used consumer preferences, purchasing intent and satisfaction data from the Go RVing RV Owner Demographic Study and the 2020 RV Buyers Survey to develop ideas that better support a great parts and accessory purchasing experience. RVIA said the session examined three key questions:
- How can the aftermarket better prepare new RVers for their first trip, especially related to education around properly using accessories?
- What can the aftermarket do to make sure that current RVers remain RVers, specifically among 2020 first-time buyers who are split on continuing to own an RV?
- It is important among these new first-time buyers to reinforce why they purchased an RV while addressing factors that may lead them to leave the RV market. What can the aftermarket do to help with this?
Aftermarket awards were announced as well.
