Covering new ground; though a recent Pool & Spa News survey suggests cover sales remain strong, there's still room for improvement, especially in helping builders create innovative designs without sacrificing safety

Pool & Spa News, August 20, 2004 by Shabnam Mogharabi

Nevertheless, the survey seems to mirror what many builders say they experience on an ongoing basis. "Cover sales are steadily increasing every year for us," Downes reports. "People are asking for them. [They] are a good thing for the industry, as long as they are installed and maintained properly."

Some charts add up to more than 100 percent due to respondents picking multiple categories.

Cover Sales

Pool cover sales over the past 12 months
compared with five years ago

DOWN SLIGHTLY        3%
UP SIGNIFICANTLY    16%
UP SLIGHTLY         29%
ABOUT THE SAME      52%

Note: Table made from pie chart.

Cover Preferences

Pool cover types sold by builders

Safety (nonautomatic)    52%
automatic                26%

Initial Sales

Builders who installed at least one    77%
pool with a cover in the past year

Aftermarket Sales

Builders who installed about half or    32%
more of their pool covers aftermarket

Purchase Factors

Importance of various factors
in customers' pool cover
purchase decisions

safety              78%
aesthetics          46%
energy savings      39%
chemical savings    28%

Safety Value

Importance of safety in influencing
customer's decision to buy a pool cover

NOT IMPORTANT          3%
NEUTRAL               11%
SLIGHTLY IMPORTANT    17%
VERY IMPORTANT        69%

High-Volume Sellers

Builders who installed covers on every    5%
pool they sold last year

Power of the Pitch

Average timing of customers' decisions
to buy pool covers

REQUESTED POOL COVER    55%
BEFORE SALES PITCH

REQUESTED POOL COVER    45%
AFTER SALES PITCH

Low-Volume Sellers

Builders who sell few, if any, pools that    45%
include covers

Warranty Claims

Builders who had no automatic pool        55%
cover warranty claims in the past year

Builders' Purchase
Decisions

Reasons builders will buy covers from
a national distributor and not an
independent company

price        56%
selection    49%

Installer Types

Preferred installers for automatic
pool covers

MANUFACTURER                     14%
POOL COVER INSTALLATION COMPANY    43%
IN-HOUSE CREWS                     43%

Note: Table made from pie chart.

Continue Buying from
Acquired Company

Builders likely to continue buying covers from a    45%
company acquired by a national distributor

Free-Form Covers

Builders who don't sell covers with    57%
free-form/custom pools

Free-Form Installation

Methods of installing automatic covers on
free-form/custom pools

deck-mounted track                 60%
hidden track under cantilevered    40%
free from deck
subdeck or pool in pool *          15%

* Here, the Free form pool sits within a recessed rectangular
deck The cover goes over both pool and sunken deck.

Owner Involvement

Builders directly involved in purchasing    82%
pool covers

Cover lingo

In the northern United States, winterizing a pool often involves putting some sort of cover on it, safety or otherwise, In the West, "solar blanket" is a common term in the cover market, In the South, builders rarely use those devices, let alone distinguish sales between the various types of covers.