Today you can get just about any type of maintenance or repair information online which, according to a 2013 survey by online retailer AutoPartsWarehouse.com, is a key reason for do-it-yourselfers (DIYers) to shop online.
With more parts resellers realizing the importance of online sales to a potential DIY clientele not limited to the mechanically inclined, resellers have created a plethora of “how-to” information. To suit every level of DIY expertise, the information ranges from simple line drawings of products to 360-degree photos to intricate exploded views of not only the parts but also complete step-by-step instructions. Some resellers even offer installation videos that walk viewers through complex repairs.
Shopping versus buying online
From the time the Internet became a viable resource, DIYers have liked the idea of shopping online, but buying online was a different story. Previously, they searched various websites to comparison shop — acquiring all the available information on items they wanted — and then turned around and bought those items from brick-and-mortar stores. Their reluctance to buy online ranged from their fear of having their credit information stolen to ordering the wrong part and having to return it via a cumbersome and costly process.
These fears have faded as many automotive e-tailers — generalists, specialists and online resellers — have secured their websites and implemented “no-fault” return policies with some paying for return shipping.
Moreover, other benefits of shopping online have become too attractive to ignore. In order of importance, the AutoPartsWarehouse.com survey cites the following reasons to shop online: to save money, to compare prices before buying, to access a bigger selection of parts than any store or dealership, to access to information and to save time.
All about convenience
With the exception of saving money, these reasons boil down to one thing for DIYers: convenience. The entire parts world is at their fingertips. This is true for DIYers who love cars and work on them as a hobby, or at the other end of the spectrum, those who work on their cars out of financial necessity. Accessibility to a wide range of parts, combined with easy-to-follow installation instructions, is paramount in DIYers’ minds.
According to the AutoPartsWarehouse.com survey, the profile of a consumer is a mainstream buyer — not an expert by any stretch of the imagination but savvy enough to identify basic key parts and comparison shop for them. Interestingly, 41 percent of the women surveyed said they knew the basics about the parts of a vehicle and their function, as compared to 39 percent of the men. However, men were far more likely (39% versus 21%) to say they were knowledgeable.
Online is good for shops, too
What’s true of DIYers buying parts online is basically true of repair shop owners, although shop owners’ reluctance may be greater because of longstanding parts ordering habits. The practice of shops ordering parts by phone — talking to parts counter people — was entrenched for decades. Counter people looked up parts for shops from paper catalogs, and later, paper and/or online catalogs.
Essentially, professional parts people took the responsibility of finding and delivering the right parts. Of course, this practice is still going on but it is rapidly fading as more sophisticated and accurate shop management systems are implemented. Today’s definition of convenience for a technician is being able to order parts on a computer, tablet or smart phone directly from the bay.
But can a shop get what they need when they need it? After all, “shipping timeframe” is cited in a new e-tailing study conducted by the Auto Care Association as the most significant drawback for shops to purchase parts online. However, the study also found that shops owners are more patient than you might think. The study cites that the “vast majority of professional installers will wait one to two days for delivery of parts they purchase from e-tailers.” Moreover, the study found that installers who are already willing to wait two to three days for delivery would be willing to wait even longer if they receive a substantial discount.
Considering how flexible shop owners can be at this time, the current delivery mechanisms are more than adequate to service shops. However, not all delivery mechanisms are equal — it’s not just about the speed of the delivery. The bigger picture requires an entity dedicated to continuous adjustments and improvements in the supply chain such as maintaining a state-of-the-art inventory management system to ensure that goods are delivered in the fastest, most efficient and economical way possible. More than likely, that means manufacturers and distributors need to partner with a specialist such as a third-party logistics provider.
Challenging the status quo
Ultimately, on the commercial side of the business immediate delivery of the right parts could trump longstanding channel partnerships. The need to move parts from manufacturers to warehouses/distribution centers to stores could be in question. Although hardly a new concept, eliminating distribution steps may be necessary to compete with the low overhead e-tailing model.
Of course, transparent pricing offered online is already driving down resellers’ prices. If e-tailers can deliver on the promise of immediate delivery and their pricing advantage becomes even greater, it is clear to me that e-tailing will not plateau at 10 percent as analysts have predicted.
The lure of the value-added resellers has always been twofold: 1) the benefit of timely delivery and 2) available services ranging from expert technical advice to the guaranteed quality of parts. But it would be naive to think e-tailing can’t provide the same value as the resellers as long as it is created in the resellers’ image. It’s just a matter of traditional resellers changing their mindset to meet the changing mindset of their customers.
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