Customers Like Price, Retailers Love Margins

WAYNE, N.J.— From a retail perspective, the JVC KD-S570 was one of the leading in-dash CD players year to date — as is its replacement the current KD-S580 — because of its feature/price package and high reliability.

Retailers said they are able to sell the product up to $40 below the cost of comparable models from competitors, or they are able to make up to 40-point margins on the unit.

Joe Padula, VP and store manager for Soundcrafters, South Daytona, Fla., noted, "I was bringing in the 570 at $99 and we would sell at $159, so that was almost 40 points, where we usually only get 25 to 30 points at that price point. The feature set was decent, it looked decent and the JVC brand is something people recognized. Our 'go to' pieces are the Clarion and Alpine, but it's a great piece for someone coming in and looking for a CD under $159."

Sears said the KD-S570, last year, was its top selling in-dash CD in both units and dollars. Associate buyer Timothy Brown credits its popularity to some key features — 180 watts plus detachable face, at a $139 price point — while "the other 180 watt units were $149, $159 or $179."

Les Ore, president of Discount Autosound, Virginia Beach, Va., said he is able to sell the KD-S570 for about $30 cheaper than other products. He added, "It's bulletproof. As far as defectives, we had none and the salespeople gravitated toward it because we never had any warranty issues with it. It had good cosmetics and the price point was about $30 cheaper than the other products." He said the only issue was keeping them in stock.

Mark Gebeloff, owner of Action Electronics Newington, Conn., said the KDS570 and the KD-S580 are $30 to $40 cheaper than the competition but still offer a 30 point margin. Another plus, he said, is that despite the current product shortages, JVC has managed to maintain fairly strong supplies. "It's a good looking radio with just enough of the right features, it's in the prolific price range and it looks good in the board," he said.