Survey reveals lost opportunities with bulb sales

A survey carried out anonymously by premium quality automotive lighting and auto electrics supplier, Ring, has revealed that technicians are not making the most of the bulb business that enters the workshop.

More than 150 technicians participated in a survey, conducted anonymously by Ring and sent via a highly regarded trade publication, that focused on the fitment and selling of bulbs. 

The results of this survey show that more than three quarters (76%) of technicians do not advise customers that bulbs should be replaced in pairs, nor do they proactively follow best practice advice and replace them in pairs.

Marketing Director for Ring, Henry Bisson, said: “This result really surprised me when I saw it, I thought technicians changed bulbs in pairs, and I believe it should become second nature for them, as they are missing a massive opportunity to profit from bulbs. An extra sale not only provides the workshop with slightly more margin, it’s also logical that if one bulb has gone, the other will follow soon after. Therefore, it is good customer service to fit in pairs, as the customer doesn’t have the hassle or frustration of coming back again for another bulb to be replaced a week or two after just having had a bulb replaced.  Explaining the benefits to the consumer of replacing in pairs also demonstrates a garage’s expertise and attention to customer care. Key benefits of replacing bulbs in pairs include even and consistent light output across paired light units, motorists will have reliable illumination when driving at night, and for garages, it is more efficient to replace two bulbs in one go rather than replacing two bulbs at separate times.

Furthermore, exactly half of the technicians admitted that their workshop does not charge customers for fitting bulbs. Henry Bisson, commented: “By not charging for bulb fitment, workshops are missing out on a huge opportunity and a fantastic profit margin. A bulb should not been seen as a consumable. All external bulbs are critical safety components that have to meet international regulations and as such, should be charged accordingly, plus the time it takes to replace a bulb needs to be accounted for accurately. By not charging for a bulb accurately, mechanics are disadvantaging and undervaluing themselves. Drivers are clearly willing to pay for the convenience of someone to fit their bulbs, so why shouldn’t the half of the workshops surveyed also benefit? 

“Naturally, the amount they’d charge is dependent on the vehicle and bulb, as there are some vehicles that technicians would need to take the bumper off to access the headlamp, but there are still a lot of cars that the bulbs are easy to change and, for a two minute job, workshops could make a great profit.”

Henry continued: “We conducted this survey out of curiosity to see what the industry practices were when it comes to bulb sales, and while many of us at Ring assumed a lot of the answers, we were certainly proved wrong on a couple with our assumptions!

“Workshops are a vital part of the aftermarket’s infrastructure, so we believe that they should be taking every opportunity to upsell and educate their customers about best practices when it comes to their vehicles – starting with bulbs! We’ve found from this survey that workshops are missing potential profit-making opportunities, whereas they should be making the most of them.”

“Quality is our expertise” reinforces OSRAM

Many people think a bulb is just a bulb. For OSRAM that is simply not the case. Through its state of the art automotive lighting laboratories in Germany, OSRAM continues to push the market forward with technical expertise and quality, ensuring its bulbs are the best customers can buy. 

To ensure its products are of the highest quality, OSRAM puts all of its products through rigorous testing at its manufacturing and testing facility in Herbrechtingen, Germany. 

The Herbrechtingen lab includes tests for temperature and climate, such as sun simulation, climate test, salt spray test, temperature shock, chemical resistance, amongst others. There are also mechanical tests for the bulb, including vibration, stone chip, tension, compression and shock tests, as well as high speed recording. Electrical tests, such as electrostatic discharges, load dump, high voltage, fast-switches and battery supply simulator and light measurement tests, including luminous flux, luminous intensity distribution and luminance measurement, are also undertaken. OSRAM also carries out geometrical tests for coordinate measurements, which is the spatial coordinates of points on a workpiece surface.

Finally, the lab technicians conduct an analysis of the bulb tested which involves microscopy, microsection analysis and x-rays. All of these tests are done before any bulb leaves the factory to be sold, so that OSRAM’s exceptional reputation of quality products is upheld. 

Complementing OSRAM’s facilities is Ring Automotive’s test lab in the UK. Ring, an OSRAM business since 2019, has the only automotive lighting lab in the UK. Once products arrive into Leeds for the UK market, the team conduct further batch testing, including light measurement, luminous intensity distribution and lumens output to ensure customers only receive the highest standard bulbs.

A bulb is not just another bulb when it is an OSRAM bulb.

For more information on the full OSRAM range visit: www.osram.co.uk/am

See and be seen: GEM reflects on staying safe

• Use your lights, don’t rely on daytime running lights

• Clean all glass, headlights and your spectacle lenses

• Stay focused

The clocks have gone back, the nights are closing in and the risk of a road collision is reaching its peak, according to breakdown and road safety organisation GEM Motoring Assist.

This, combined with predictions of heavy rain and strong winds from Storm Ciarán means visibility will be reduced and people will be much harder to spot on dark roads1.

GEM is urging everyone to ensure they can see – and be seen – on their journeys.

“It’s so important we all ensure we are as visible as possible and can clearly see others on the road,” says GEM road safety adviser James Luckhurst. “A combination of straightforward actions can reduce risks for drivers and for anyone they might meet on their journeys.

“Ensuring we see as much as possible by cleaning car windows as well as our spectacles – and helping others see us by turning our lights on – will help us all to stay safe and will mean we’re doing our bit to keep others around us safe as well.”

GEM’s visibility tips for reducing danger:

For drivers:

Choose the safe option of using lights. They won’t just help you see other vehicles and hazards… they will help others see you as well. 

When visibility is reduced it’s important to slow down so you have more time to deal with hazards in the road. Try to avoid braking suddenly to give the vehicle behind time to react.

Light up front and rear. Don’t rely on automatic lights which may well be inadequate and won’t help you to see anything on the road.  Switch on dipped headlights and make yourself properly visible.

Daytime running lights alone will not be sufficient to make you properly visible to oncoming traffic and other road users, especially in foggy or wet conditions. 

Stay focused on the road and scan for hazards. Expect the unexpected – particularly children out and about for Hallowe’en or Bonfire Night.

Clean your glasses, windows and headlights. In this way you’ll get the best possible view of the road, in daylight, twilight or darkness.

For pedestrians and cyclists:

Being visible to others should be your priority. Fluorescent colours help you be more visible during the day. Reflective materials make you more visible in low-light conditions and at night.

Using lights and reflectors on bikes at night is a legal requirement: a white light showing from the front and a red light from the rear. 

Nearly two-thirds of motorists risk being left in the dark

• Nearly two-thirds of motorists (64%) risk being left in the dark this winter, by failing to carry spare headlight bulbs with them according to eBay research

• Survey findings revealed that 18% of drivers risked receiving a £100 on-the-spot fine by waiting between one and two weeks before changing a blown bulb

• According to eBay sales data, January is the most popular month for headlight bulb sales. Find the right bulb for your car here: MyGarage

Research from eBay UK has revealed how 64% of drivers risk a £100 fine by failing to carry spare headlamp bulbs with them – with 18% of drivers admitting to waiting between one and two weeks before changing a blown headlight*. 

Getting caught driving in the dark with a broken bulb is a safety risk, and also puts drivers at risk of receiving a £100 fixed penalty notice fine – a figure that could rise to £1,000 if challenged in court.  

With the clocks changing on Sunday 29th October, drivers will face significantly darker and potentially more dangerous commutes in the months ahead.

Despite the importance of carrying spare headlight bulbs, 64% of those surveyed failed to carry them in their vehicles. This omission, although perfectly legal, puts them at risk of running into problems when their headlight bulbs fail, especially during darker months. 

Laura Richards, Category Lead, Vehicle Parts and Accessories at eBay UK Ltd, said: “Our statistics highlight the need for drivers to keep spare headlight bulbs to hand. With only one headlight working, visibility will be reduced which could have serious consequences as we enter darker months – especially when driving in rural areas with unlit roads.

“Last year, we experienced spikes in demand for replacement bulbs in November and January. We recommend motorists carry a set of spare bulbs in the glove box, so they’re not caught out and, with eBay’s MyGarage registration look-up technology, finding the right bulbs for your car couldn’t be simpler.”

 Motorists can easily purchase replacement headlight bulbs from eBay by entering their vehicle information using eBay’s newly enhanced MyGarage function, which allows customers to find the right vehicle parts with confidence using their car registration. As part of its Assured Fit promise, when shoppers purchase an eligible part or accessory, they can be sure it will fit their vehicle. If, for any reason, it isn’t the right part upon arrival, they can return it for free within 30 days for a full refund. 

Are you getting the most profit on bulbs?

Bulbs are a fantastic profit opportunity for workshops, as well as factors, but is the industry making the most of the upselling opportunities it’s presented with? Premium quality lighting giant, Ring Automotive, looks at what opportunities are regularly missed by workshops and factors and offers suggestions on how to get the most profit with bulb sales.

Replacement car bulbs are one of the fastest moving and profitable product lines in the aftermarket but it’s up to staff in workshops and factors to find the best opportunities to upsell to their customers. 

Firstly, there are increased sales opportunities for the forward lighting on modern vehicles. This is easily demonstrated by comparing the value of replacing halogens bulbs with an upgrade halogen. 

By offering premium bulb upgrades that improve drivers’ visibility, workshops could increase their sales by 50% and once customers see the improvement for themselves, they rarely go back to standard bulbs and continue to fit higher value performance halogens. This ensures an increase in profits that ultimately help secure a business’ future. Selling performance bulbs is about working smarter. Simply ask the customer if they want brighter or whiter lights. Most motorists don’t know such bulbs exist, but do want better lighting for their vehicle.

On top of selling performance bulbs, factors and garages should be replacing bulbs in pairs when replacing a blown bulb in a paired lighting system. If one headlamp or brake light goes, replacing the bulb in the other at the same time produces an even light output to aid driver’s vision. Plus, it provides a higher level of customer service. Headlamps work at the same time, therefore it is logical to presume that if one headlamp bulb goes, the other bulb in the other unit will also fail shortly. A motorist would be frustrated to have to replace another bulb soon after having a car in the workshop, so it’s always worth replacing bulbs in pairs for these reasons. This extra professional advice, delivered with confidence can lead to extra sales, but also opens the door to sell upgrade bulbs, which come as pairs.  

Performance upgrades are not exclusive to the forward lighting on vehicles. Rear performance lighting upgrades are available too, such as the Ring Rapid Response Range. These are high intensity bulbs designed to offer up to 20% more luminous power and faster illumination. Drivers following vehicles using these upgrade bulbs will see them earlier and, therefore, have more time to react.

So whilst the lighting market is constantly changing, Ring is keen to stress that it still presents significant opportunities for the aftermarket.

The future for bulbs remains bright!

Double victory for Philips in the UK’s annual headlamp bulb test

Following on from Philips RacingVision GT200 scooping Headlamp of the Year and H7 Best Buy honors in the previous Auto Express product mega test and awards, Lumileds is proud to announce that in the latest edition of the Auto Express Headlamp Bulb tests – which, this year cover both H4 Halogen bulbs and D3S HiD Xenon headlamp bulbs – Philips bulbs have won the coveted “Best Buy” status across the board.

Philips RacingVision GT200 awarded once again.

This adds further recognition to the numerous awards that Philips RacingVision GT200 has taken in various bulb tests across Europe, since its launch in 2020. The Philips product was the first bulb rated at up to +200% brightness compared to the industry standard. This raised the bar for halogen lighting at the time, and still, some three years later, Philips RacingVision GT200 is proving to be the benchmark that other halogen bulbs aim to match. 

A high luminance filament and a unique coating on the glass are key factors in the Philips RacingVision GT200’s performance. Like all Philips bulbs, it is produced to extremely high standards, with precision welding and precise filament alignment, but the RacingVision GT200 also features Diamond Precision Quartz-glass technology, with its increased translucency for a brighter light on the road. This also helps protect the headlamp optic from UV damage and gives increased pressure and shock resistance properties.

Interestingly, this year - unlike previous years - where the runners-up have generally been awarded the much coveted “Recommended” status, Auto Express felt unable to give any such recognition to the other contenders.

The technology behind the bulbs is all aimed at making them deliver a safer and more comfortable driving experience for drivers and other road users. [CM1] [SM2] 

The “Best Buy” recommendation is the first such award for the Philips Xenon X-tremeVision gen2 and Lumileds is justifiably delighted. “Philips absolutely dominated this test, taking every one of our assessments – and by a substantial margin,” wrote Auto Express Product Editor, Kim Adams about the Xenon X-tremeVision Gen2. “Rivals struggled to get within 10 percent of the stellar [Philips] X-tremeVision.”

Philips Xenon X-tremeVision gen2 is made of high-quality anti-UV quartz glass and is able to withstand severe thermal shock. Engineered using Philips Xenon technology for ultimate performance, it offers the most powerful beam from the Philips xenon portfolio up to 150% more vision[1]. Philips X-tremeVision gen2 bulbs help drivers to spot obstacles earlier, allowing them to react earlier.

“As the inventors of HiD Xenon lighting, it is heartening to know we still set the standard in the category with Philips X-tremeVision gen2,” enthuses Lumileds UK and Eire Country Manager, Richard Armstrong. “And, what can we say about Philips RacingVision GT200 that hasn’t already been said? Once again, it has proved itself to be the class of the field.”

“Headlamp Bulbs are always likened to being the eyes of the car,” continues Richard Armstrong, “and it is no exaggeration to say that, simply put, the better you see the road ahead in the car, the safer and more pleasant it is to drive. Bulbs are one of the least expensive safety upgrades you can make to your vehicle, so we encourage everyone to consider upgrading your lights when replacing your bulbs. With Philips RacingVision GT200 for halogen applications and Philips X-tremeVision gen2 for xenon, the tests show that these Philips bulbs are both hard to beat!”

To find out more, please visit: Philips.com/RacingVision & Philips.com/Xenongen2

What should you be stocking?

Premium quality automotive lighting and auto electrics supplier, Ring, reveals its most popular products, so workshops and factors can ensure they have a healthy stock available.

Running out of stock is the easiest way a company can lose business, as customers will just go to the next proprietor to buy their requirements. However, if factors, and to a degree, workshops, keep an eye on growing trends and understand which products are most popular, they can keep their stock replenished and hopefully lose as few customers as possible. 

To assist them in this, Ring Automotive has revealed which of their products are the most popular and therefore, which products to keep an eye on and restock when they are getting low.

Top selling accessories 

Tyre Inflator (RTC1000)

The RTC1000 Rapid Digital Tyre Inflator makes tyre maintenance fast and easy as it’s powered directly from the in-car 12V socket. It inflates a 13" tyre in just two minutes and comes with three adaptors, an LED light, storage case, spare valve caps and latex gloves. 

Ring’s RTC1000 Premium Rapid Digital Tyre Inflator was most recently the winner in the Auto Express 12V Air Compressor Category. Having won the magazine’s Best Buy in this category since 2019, the review stated “it is still the best of the rest”.

Cordless Tyre Inflator (RTC4000)

Ring’s newest tyre inflator launched early in 2023, the RTC4000 is a compact, yet powerful and high quality cordless tyre inflator for cars and motorbikes. The RTC4000 is easily chargeable via a USB Type C cable or 12V DC cable and is quick to inflate a tyre, even from flat, making this product an easy sell for retailers as it provides an easy solution for drivers should they get back to their vehicle and find the tyre is flat.

SmartCharger (RSC806)

The Ring RSC806 is a smart 6A battery charger and maintainer for 6-volt and 12-volt systems, which supports various battery types, including start/stop batteries on both petrol and diesel engines. The charger provides a seven-stage charge cycle, offers simple one-button operation, and has a large easy-to-read, backlit display.

MAGflex Utility Lamp (RIL3700C)

Designed with versatility in mind, the MAGflex Utility lamp combines dual, magnetic ratcheting bases with a 360° rotating body. This means that the lamp can either be used freestanding or hands-free, positioned in any number of ways to ensure that the workspace is properly illuminated. With 1,000 lumens output, the lamp can be used as a larger light or an under bonnet light, as well it being using for close up inspections.

Top selling bulbs

Xenon200 (RX2077)

Ring’s Xenon200 bulb range is a like for like replacement of standard H7 headlamps. These performance halogen bulbs provide up to 200% more light on the road ahead and the exceptional brightness and longer beam allow motorists to see potential hazards and other motorists earlier. 

H7 bulb (R477)

One of Ring’s other most popular H7’s is the R477 in the halogen range. It’s one that is recognisable to technicians and factors for its premium quality and is a simplistic like for like bulb that’s easy to fit but still provides excellent illumination.

W5W bulb (R501)

Finally, the humble R501 is Ring’s most popular bulb by volume, as it is has the possibility of being fitted to seven or eight different applications on a vehicle, such as the panel, interior and side and tail bulbs, so it’s one to keep a high stock of due to its versatility. A technician can never have enough 501s!