From September 9 to 12, Point S Canada’s Annual Congress at the stunning Playa Mujeres resort in Mexico offered network retailers a chance to have a blast while brushing up on effective business practices.

With around 285 Point S and V1 locations in Canada, plus affiliates under the Otobox, Local Tire, and other banners, the network boasts nearly a thousand tire shops nationwide. This retail powerhouse is backed by distributors Stox and North Country Tire, operating 29 coast-to-coast warehouses stocking products from all major tire brands.

“It’s the strength of our distribution that will ensure the growth of our retailer network,” summarized Jean Novak, President and CEO of Point S Canada, to the congress attendees. “We’ve made strategic acquisitions to beef up our distribution capacity and expanded several warehouses to keep pace with rising demand.” This distribution prowess serves over 10,000 retailers across Canada, many of whom are just discovering what are this organization’s capabilities.

Novak is quick to emphasize that this overview of Point S Canada’s development includes not only expanding with new locations, but also fostering the success of existing retailers in the network. Fortunately, he emphasizes, the market is favourable for specialized tire retailers. “New car sales are picking up, though not quite as fast as we’d hoped. But the average age of Canada’s roughly 25 million light vehicles is climbing, and they’re racking up more kilometres. That’s great news for our aftermarket auto shops.”

Point S Canada’s President sees real, growing demand for all-electric vehicles, albeit a bit slower than expected. He notes that automakers seem to be pivoting towards more purely hybrid powertrains. This inevitable shift to greener vehicles is pushing Point S family tire retailers and mechanical shops to adapt their offerings.

“We’re focusing heavily on training within the network to offer our customers a range of tires that meet their needs,” said Novak. “In practice, this means leveraging our expertise and focusing on our technical advisors’ knowledge. At a time when the offering is expanding, we need to know how to offer our customers tires that will truly satisfy them in every aspect. Counter staff has never been so important in helping consumers make informed choices.”

Expertise matters

During the congress, a workshop led by tire gurus Ugo Desgreniers and Leif Ellefsen allowed retailers to validate the importance of this point.

It’s worth noting that the increase and multiplication of tire sizes—with 24-inch rims no longer raising eyebrows—are putting strong pressure on distribution. Moreover, the gradual introduction of specific tires for electric vehicles will further burden inventories in warehouses.

The distributor’s management saw this trend coming and has been adding and expanding warehouses accordingly. These facilities can now ship out massive tires for full-size SUVs just as easily as they can find the perfect fit for a 2005 Honda Civic.

Another key element to consider in the green shift of transportation is the specialized training necessary to service these vehicles in independent shops. Point S management takes a pragmatic approach to this chapter. Depending on the nature of the markets covered by the shops, it recommends seizing the opportunity and obtaining EV certification. The era when motorists performed their own mechanical maintenance is over, and this is even more true for electric and hybrid vehicles—if only for safety’s sake. They entrust the monitoring of their vehicle’s health to specialists, whether they are linked to the dealer or an independent shop.

Maxime-Olivier Gauthier, VP of Marketing and Communication at Point S, led a session unpacking consumer perceptions, drawing on recent findings from an Automotive Industries Association (AIA) study.

Meeting expectations

With great transparency, Gauthier explained how independent service centres are perceived by customers, and especially how Point S shops should attract them by focusing on pillars such as technical expertise, value for money, or by building a sense of trust with these customers. “Why would a consumer choose one shop over another? The AIA survey highlights that they want courtesy, clean shops. They like having the same technician work on their car at each visit, if possible. But above all, they want to be explained what needs to be done on their car and to be kept informed,” Gauthier specified. “For our Point S and V1 shops, I see this finding as a great opportunity to seize.”

Another way to respond to new consumption trends is the implementation of a customer experience digitization strategy, an approach that was detailed during the Congress.

Directing consumers to retailers

The Canadian Point S portal already attracts more than one million unique visitors annually. These potential customers, who browse the website to see promotions, read advice, and identify tires corresponding to their vehicle through the search tool, are then funnelled to their local retailer to complete the transaction and make an appointment for installation. Gauthier also pointed out that retailers who had not yet subscribed to the online appointment booking tool should take advantage of the support offered by the Point S team to do so.

What was explained during this part of the Congress is that the effectiveness of this platform in no way prevents the retailer from nurturing their own local digital community. On the contrary, these initiatives are encouraged.

In fact, a workshop presented by the firm phd explained the importance for Point S to multiply communication channels to reach consumers, according to their age group. Platforms ranging from traditional television to social media, including radio, will be used to reach these potential customers. Point S’s always-creative ad campaigns are tailored to each platform. In a nutshell, tapping into different media sources is fundamental to building lasting recognition for the Point S brand.

Foreign workers

An interesting workshop focused on the use of foreign workers to support tire and mechanical centre operations. The firm CANARI International Recruitment, represented by Karim Mouldi and Michel Pagano, walked attendees through the process of accessing this pool of skilled workers.

In fact, the organizers were keen to demystify the search, vetting, and onboarding process for these workers in Canadian companies. They also touched on the freeze in Quebec’s foreign worker program, which will limit the entry of these resources based on the offer of a salary below $27.47 per hour.

According to the recruitment agency officials, this change in the program will force shop managers to carefully evaluate their needs and the value of positions to be filled before undertaking any hiring steps.

Time to let loose

While the content of the congress’s conferences, workshops, and presentations was rich and focused on business development, this annual grand meeting was also a gathering point for Point S and V1 retailers. True to its tradition of exceptional grand events, the management of Point S Canada spared no detail to make this event a memorable stay under the Caribbean sun.

The chosen hotel complex—Atelier Playa Mujeres in Mexico—lived up to its five-star billing. Attendees were able to enjoy the facilities as well as an impressive selection of restaurants and bars, and bonded with peers from coast to coast through a lineup of exhilarating activities.

In addition to the themed parties and dinners organized by Point S, Congress participants could sign up for activities allowing them to discover the beauties of this tropical country or experience great adventures at sea.

“This Congress was an opportunity to take a pleasant break before the peak season and to recharge our batteries,” Novak summarized at the end of the event. “It’s also a meeting where we can give our retailers, partners, and suppliers details about our growth strategy. And above all, the Congress gives us the opportunity to thank our Point S and V1 retailers for their loyalty and commitment to quality, which allows us to nurture a healthy brand. Together, we want to make Point S the leader in tires and mechanics in Canada.”

Global insights

Fabien Bouquet, President of Point S International, took the stage in front of the congress attendees to paint an enlightening picture of the global automotive market. As the leader of a company whose network includes 6,500 Point S centres worldwide, he was the ideal person to explain how each retailer could benefit from the best practices deployed by their colleagues across all these markets.

Bouquet noted that independent shops are holding their own against dealership service departments in the auto maintenance arena. He pointed out that car manufacturers worldwide are shaking up their business models, having tasted direct sales during the pandemic and opting, in several markets, mainly in Europe and Asia, for this practice. As a result, traditional dealerships are giving way to simple showrooms in shopping centres.

This trend could translate into more work volume for automotive service centres like those in the Point S network. That being said, the president of Point S International indicated that one of the growth paths to consider for tire and mechanical centres is the diversification of service offerings. “There is an increase in demand for automotive maintenance services,” he notes. “We are conducting trials in various markets to expand our offerings, looking at adding cosmetic services or minor body repairs to our tire and mechanical centres.”

Bouquet ended his presentation by offering two pieces of advice to Canadian retailers. The first is to focus on training, especially in the context of constant evolution of automotive technologies. He highlighted that 700 shops in the global network have been certified to work on electric vehicles. “You can’t keep workers on your team who are not up-to-date on new technologies,” he explained.

His second tip? Shop managers should take the time to analyze their customer list to optimize it. According to him, this often-neglected resource represents the heart of the business. Qualifying these customers and keeping in touch regularly with them is the winning formula to ensure occupied service bays all year round.