RV PANDA . COM
RV PANDA – SHORTHAND FOR PARTS AND ACCESSORIES – is designed to sell parts , accessories , and “ anything you might need for your RV ,” said Troy Meister , Director of Parts and Accessories for Kunes RV .
“ We want to give people another option to get what they need . There ’ s a limited market and not a lot of expertise out there ,” Troy said . “ We ’ ve been in this business a long time as a dealership , but many of us here have even more years of experience in this industry .”
That ’ s why , eventually , Troy said RV Panda would likely have a Q & A section and technical assistance because it ’ s what people want and need . For now , more than 30,000 items are available for sale , with more added daily . And RV Panda can ship orders nationwide in the United States and Canada .
E3 Camping members are some of the first people to have access to the site , which just launched at the end of June . And Troy said he ’ s excited to have E3 members as “ beta buyers ,” who can run the site through its paces and give him feedback .
“ We want it to be friendly and a good user experience ,” Troy said . “ If there is any issue navigating the site , we want to hear about it . We are building this site for E3 Camping members because you ’ re our target market .”
And if you ’ re looking for something and can ’ t find it at RV Panda , he wants to know that , too .
“ We are absolutely open to suggestions ,” Troy said . “ I ’ m going to read every email . We really want feedback . We want this to be as good a site as we can make for RVers because they ’ re the end-user .”
The RV Panda name and mascot were the brainchild of one of Kunes RV ’ s marketing staff , and Troy said it ’ s a perfect , fun fit for what they ’ re trying to do .
“ We ’ ve always called our department Parts and Accessories . I ’ ve been at this for 10 years , and I ’ ve never thought of Parts AND Accessories being PANDA ! It ’ s a little different , easy to remember , and will help us stick out .
“ The way we view camping is that we don ’ t sell RVs ; we sell fun and family . So to have a fun , happy mascot works with how we view camping . We want to keep it as fun as possible , and so far , people have really liked it ; they get a kick out of seeing our mascot around .”
Troy noted that more people would be working on their units in the coming years , and RV Panda would be a great place for them to find what they need .
“ The past two years have been a little odd in the market with so many people buying new units . But as the market slows down , people tend to keep their units longer , and they need a place to get their repair parts . Or maybe they want to refurbish a unit ,” Troy said . “ We also want people to have access to parts to do the upkeep on their new units so they can keep them longer .”
Troy noted that the Kunes RV dealerships are expanding their parts and accessories departments in the brick-and-mortar locations , as well , but the online store is a vital link for many RVers .
“ What if they ’ re on the road or don ’ t live near one of our dealerships ?” Troy asked . “ With RVPanda . com , we can service our customers no matter where they are . We ’ re customer-focused , selling fun and family , and we want to take care of our customers whether they buy an RV from us or not . We just need to be where they are .”
EDITOR ’ S NOTE E3 Camping members receive a 10 % discount at RVPanda . com by using the code E3Launch10 at checkout . To provide feedback or input for Troy to read about RV Panda , send an email to Traveling @ RVpanda . com .
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