How Marshall Music went from hectic school rental nights to a streamlined, 100% online rental model — and how you can, too. — By Katie Kailus I f it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s often the mantra of many a re- tailer — especially school music
rental events out at a school,” said Jimmy Edwards, Marshall Music’s president. “But maybe in late 2017 or early 2018 we started tinkering with the idea of offering rentals online. We were thinking of how we wanted to meet our customers where they were at a little bit better. Preferences had changed, and, if folks wanted, we offered them the option to complete this process online in the comfort of their own home.” With a robust e-commerce platform already up and running, the seven- location, Lansing, Michigan-based retailer had never really toyed with the idea of taking rentals online until that point.
retailers trying to get through the busy school rental season. Chaotic rental nights in sweaty school gym- nasiums and prepping instruments well into the wee hours of the morn- ing are common signs of September at a B&O dealership. But in 2018, Marshall Music de- cided to flip that process on its head. “We’ve been in the rental business for more than 75 years, and most of those 75 years we had completed the rental process in the very same way where a customer comes into the store to rent an instrument or we put on
36 I MUSIC INC. I JUNE 2024
Powered by FlippingBook