We catch up with Autowave’s Ravi Kotecha to find out what market and industry trends are the driving force behind his business so far this year…
“As garages and motor factors start to sell spare keys as an add-on, auto locksmiths are being pushed into more specialist jobs. By this I mean that the non-locksmiths are offering a more basic service so we’ve seen our locksmith customers take on more skills.
“Of course, we’ve been able to evolve with this trend and supply all aspects of the market. But as we always remain loyal to locksmiths, we’re constantly looking at ways to help them more. Two ways we can do this is through training and distribution.
“Looking at devices, while we saw many advancements in tools and equipment up to 2023. We’re now seeing those start to be refined. Advancement has slowed down, but it’s not a bad thing. I think it’s because the machines are so good now. So what we see now are upgrades and refinements. Plus, when one manufacturer does something, another one will so we see more versions of the same thing rather than ‘new’ machines.
“This comes back to locksmith skills too. Machines don’t do the work, people do. And, whereas in the past, the locksmith would always be more advanced than their equipment – it’s not always the case now. As such, more auto locksmith companies are offering training courses, ourselves included, with our IMI-approved training centre.
“Next up is distribution – and we have some really exciting news to share on that next month. We all know that it’s not economically viable for a locksmith to carry all possible stock ‘just in case’ they need something for a job. Our work is nearly always ‘emergency’ and rarely planned in advanced.
“Our customers need to be able to get their products same day, whether that’s ordering online, giving us a call or picking up the order physically. In our mind, car keys are just like car parts and should be as easily available to get the job done and move onto the next.”