by MAURA KELLER
The trend towards purchasing recycled automotive parts online is not surprising, as consumers have come to rely on the convenience and ease of e-commerce.
As e-commerce trends continue to grow, traditional automotive recyclers with brick and mortar entities are taking notice.
Automotive recycling companies agree that the online marketplace has had a huge impact on the automotive recycling parts industry.
“It’s been a game changer, and it’s been huge for us,” said Anthony Wahl, owner of Wahl to Wahl Auto, a 34 acre full service auto recycling facility selling used auto parts in Cooperstown, New York. “We were very late getting our inventory online compared to a lot of the major yards. But once we did, it changed everything.”
Now almost all of Wahl to Wahl Auto’s sales are generated from customers finding the needed parts online.
“That is how many people are looking for parts now, and it’s certainly playing a big role in the whole industry,” Wahl said.
Some customers order parts from Wahl directly online, and some consumers see the company has the part online, then call to order over the phone, or ask any questions they may have about an item.
“Most of the full service auto recyclers across the country have migrated towards using an online platform to list their parts,” Wahl said. “I don’t see how growth is possible for smaller full service auto salvage yards that are not selling parts online. And it’s not just the end consumer finding our parts online, it’s other yards finding parts for their customers, as well as repair shops and body shops and
insurance companies.”
Challenges for Online Entities
Luke Wester, digital marketing analyst at Miva, Inc., an e-commerce solutions provider said that e-commerce has changed dramatically in the past few years. “The bar for online shopping has been set high and recycled automotive parts providers with complex catalogs can struggle to present their products in a way that resonates with online consumers,” Wester said.
For Wahl, part descriptions, pictures and communication are the key challenges for his auto recycling company and he imagines it is the same for other auto parts recyclers as well.
“Customers looking at the picture of a part make assumptions about it without reading the full part description. Or, they look for the part they think they need, and never look at the pictures to see what they are actually ordering,” Wahl said. “Some don’t read the whole part description, and some don’t read any of it.”
Communication online can be difficult as well. Language, terminology and tone all get lost in translation over text. “If the customer orders the wrong part, most of those conversations start with the customer saying, ‘You sent me the wrong part,’” Wahl said. “A lot of the order issues that can usually be cleared up over a phone conversation or over the counter, get lost in online typed conversations. It also makes it harder to go the extra mile to make sure the customer is ordering the exact part they need when they are not having an actual conversation with us and getting assistance from a professional sales representative in a one-on-one conversation setting.”
According to Wester, a common mistake brick and mortar automotive recyclers make when creating an online buying experience is overlooking the value of their physical locations.
“Buying online and picking up in-store, known as BOPIS, is wildly popular with today’s consumers and provides a unique value proposition for the business,” Wester said.
Utilizing social media and search engine optimization strategies to market an online store are crucial for automotive recyclers’ success. Lauren Fram, online sales industry analyst at G2 Crowd, said even a dedicated brick-and-mortar customer base may not be enough to launch a successful online business for automotive recyclers, especially if no one is made aware that the online store exists.
“Cultivating online customers must be made a priority in order to achieve success,” Fram said. Businesses should also integrate their online business with their brick-and-mortar location as much as possible, so it’s easy to manage both at the same time. “If the two aspects of the automotive recycling business are essentially run as separate entities, one aspect will likely fall by the wayside as you focus on the other,” Fram said. If all the data and administration tools are integrated and managed from one place, it’s much easier to handle both sides of the business in tandem.
While more and more automotive recyclers are embracing BOPIS, Wahl advised that for automotive recyclers, the information customers want online, and ordering what they need online is here now, and is the future.
“I don’t know how any full-service auto recycler can even survive anymore without having their inventory online,” Wahl said. “We are in the era of Amazon. Our customers want to see what they are ordering first and order it online now. They want fast and cheap shipping, and they want to be able to return it if they don’t need it anymore or if they change their mind. If you are an auto recycler and are not adapting to the current expectation of your customers in this day and age, it will be harder to survive moving forward.”
Wahl said there are too many auto parts sellers that are doing the things mentioned above and will get a customer’s business if automotive recyclers are not making their customers happy.
“We are also in the era of customer service. Customers want to be treated kindly and with respect all the time, even if it’s through email or a messenger platform,” Wahl said.
“People have many more options than ever before. They have the world at their fingertips. If your parts are not online so the world can see them, you are not going to get that call or order. If your pictures are bad, you are not going to get that order. If your part is not as described, you will get that return. We live in a time of instant gratification, instant feedback and online reviews. There is little room for error in this online world.”
Tools At Your Fingertips
As the online auto parts retail market becomes ever more competitive, the winners in today’s economy will be the ones who go beyond one simple storefront or website to sell their wares on multiple channels. Many online businesses find great success from selling their products on multiple sites, such as Amazon, eBay, Shopify and Car-part.com and their own website.
Specifically, for automotive recyclers looking to sell parts online, many look at e-commerce solutions that offer customization, fraud protections, integration of their existing software, reliability and are mobile friendly.
In addition, the e-commerce sites need to be easy to navigate and offer support. As more and more automotive recyclers sell parts online, they also need systems that offer sales inventory management and yard management systems that integrate with their e-commerce initiatives.
Some leading e-commerce solution providers include Hollandar, Sophio, Parts Square and SureDone. While multiple stores bring greater opportunity to target and segment your product offerings, having the right infrastructure and management is paramount to avoid losing control of your business.
Wahl said that auto recyclers that are on top of their picture and part description game will continue to grow and thrive as they have over the last 20 years, and those that are not, will have difficulties in the future.
“My best advice is to join auto recycling programs and learn what is working and what is not from your peers, many of whom are eager to share their online experiences and successes,” Wahl said. “Joining and getting involved in the ARA, URG, and your state and local level associations, is the best way to learn and grow in this ever changing online world.”
Published in the June 2019 Edition
