AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

THE MOTORVAN SHOW-ROOM.

9th March 1920, Page 10
9th March 1920
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 10, 9th March 1920 — THE MOTORVAN SHOW-ROOM.
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

The Transport of the Modern Commercial( Traveller and His Samples. The Complete Show-room on Wheels.

SOME YEARS AGO, it was quite a familiar -sight to see the traveller in certain lines of business walking down the road followed by a porter carrying his samples on a truck. Generally, these samples were in peculiar wicker baskets, which were carried into the shop for displaying to the owner or buyer by the odd man. The last named was generally picked up by the tra,veller at the railway station, or, sometimes, in the course of years. on the same ground, the traveller retained a man who did this work for him whenever he visited that town.

At all events, it must have been a fairly worrying job for the traveller. In addition to the troublescon the railway, he had the hiring of the men, the progress round the town if it comprised a number of shops, and then the laborious work of carrying the baskets across the shops and the displaying of his samples, often in the congested region of the back premises of an overcrowded shop.

-.. time, it did not overcome the difficulty of transporting the goods from the conveyance to the prospective buyer inside the shop.

We find that attention is now being directed towards the

travelling show-room, naounted on a motorvan chassis and fitted up so that customers can. be invited inside to view the goods at their leisure. This arrangement not only has the advantage of mobility, but it has several other outstanding points as well. As a rule, it enables the commercial traveller, or demonstrator, to carrya much bigger stock than he otherwise could, and, so, to show his custonaegs a much wider range of samples than had ever been possible beforg. He is able to show them in a better atmosphere; he can group them and display them to their best advantage. Above all, he is able to get his buyer into a. place where he will not be interrupted by business calls, and, without taking him more than a few yards from hi,s own doorstep, can yet get him into what is virtually the seller's own premises, and so be in a much 'better phsition to transact business.. It is obvious, of course, that the travelling showroom is not adaptable to every industry. There are some articles (warships and locomotives, for instance) which could not be moved about, and, on the other hand, there are other articles which are so l small that they can be carried by a traveller in his wallet or case without. any..,inconvenience. There are, however,

many other things which it would be an immense advantage to take to the, customer's own doorstep. In the drapery trade, this is done now by the methods outlined in our first two paragraphs. It is done, to some extent, in the grocery and confectionery trades. By the use of the travelling show-room, many firms which now have to rely on catalogues, photographs, and verbal description, could take their goods on a. display tour and so get much greater business. This is now being realized ; hence the increasing attention which is being given to the travelling • showroom.

It is well, therefore, to look at the points which should be considered in an enterprise of this nature. On the right of our illustrations we show a van which was in successful use before the war for a considerable period. Inter alia, it may be mentioned that the financial results attendant on its use were remarkable, the sales increasing in an astounding way. In this case, the goods to be shown were grooery and confectionery. It was decided to make the body as wide and as long as possible, so as to give the.g-reatest amount of room inside. As the goods were not bulky, a medium-weight chassis was adopted—in this case 15 cwt. Twin pneumatics were fitted to the rear and singles to the front wheels.

The exterior was finished in a good plain colour, with no advertisement. This is a matter of taste, and depends on the class of customer upon wham it is proposed to call. In some businesses the buyers would object to having to visit a van which was covered with a very striking advertisement. In other cases, _ perhaps, the calls would he upon the owner § of small one-man businesses, and they would not have any feeling on this point. But, as a general rule, the shopkeeper does not care for a vehicle with either samples or goods standing outside of his premises and bearing the name of a manufacturer or wholesaler. It conveys too much information upon sources of supplies not only to retail customers but also to rival shopkeepers.

One of the first things to be settled is access to the interior. In the van referred to, entrance was obtained from the front, the left-hand part of the driver's seat hingeing up. Mounting the footboard, one stepped on to the floorboards, and, so, through a hinged door into the interior of the van. This worked quite well in practice. An alternative is to enter from the rear. This necessitates steps, and it may be necessary to put the hand rail shown on the other vehicle. It is probable that this would be an advantageous method if large numbers of people are expeetecl.to visit the van at one time.

The position of the door, of course, affects the de sign of the interior. It is well to consider the condi tions which will obtain when the van is moving at a fair speed; Theinost desirable. thing is •to' arrange the goods so that they will be safe • while travelling; and yet be in a'position for showing to a prospective purchaser,in the shortest possible time, -and with the minimura of trouble. In the van already made, the goods were arranged on shelves hinged at the back

and fitted with chains, so that they co-aid be fixed in

a horizontal position when the van was moving, and lowered to a suitable angle for viewing when the'van was at rest. It is possible, in a van of this kind, to fit in small cupboards .underneath for special samples ; in the case of some poods, to 'carry. the 'necessary apparatus for making drinking or tasting samples; to carry small eh ars, on which customers can be accommo. dated, and to adopt many devices which are a great .asset to the science of salesmanship. The interior of the an should be well lighted.

_

A good way of doing this is by having a clerestory

roof in the top. This will also give ventilation. Electric lighting should be arranged, so that goods can be shown at night. In building the body, it is well to see that room is.left to get at the differential and other mechanical parts which need attention. It is impossible to lay down any exact rules as to the size of chassis, but it is obvious that, to be of any good, the body of a travelling showroom must be a fair size, so as to give people room to have a little movement. This means that a 15-cwt. chassis is possibly the smallest that should be adopted. Perhaps a ton, is more nearly the average size. The front seats of the van should be well upholstered, and fitted

with good screens and closed-in sides. It thenogives quite oomfortable quarters-for the commercial man and his chauffeur (if he does not drive himself).

The chauffeur is useful to make the few slight changes necessary to prepare the van for demonstration purposes, while the salesman goes to interview a prospeotive buyer and persuade him to come and view his goods. Speakmg from experience of one of these vans, it is undoubtedly a great adjunct to trade, and, in the case of people who cannot get away to visit the big industrial fairs, or to isit a firm's showrooms,. it is undoubtedly the next best policy to take the, goods to them. This is possible in the majority of cases by means of the motor show van.

Tags


comments powered by Disqus