Sunday, May 8, 2011

Lucrative Autoparts e-Commerce - First Thoughts

If you're like me, a gearhead, you probably change your own oil, check your tire pressure, top off your own fluids, change brake pads and rotors, and maybe even attempt to do your own timing belt. Let's face it, dealership now-a-days don't make much money off of selling brand new cars. In fact most of their profits come from selling used cars and servicing cars. There's so much money in the "servicing car" business, that's why you see Midas/JiffyLube/Autozone/Big-o-Tires/etc almost every other corner of the street. Even Costco, Sam's Club, and Sears participate in consuming this pie. From this observation I can argue that there is a niche; people like myself don't goto those places to get work done because of many reasons; I don't trust other people with my own car, I almost always prefer OEM parts and not aftermarket, and I hate to pay someone for something I can do competently. I would almost always purchase my parts online or thru a dealership's parts department; there's a lot of money spent in the market that serves people like me I'll bet.

Here Try This: Create an e-commerce website that brands itself as the best and most popular store, stocked with regular maintenance parts for all major models. Focus the product range on wear and tear parts that are most frequently consumed (oil, filters, anti-freeze, brake pads, rotors, tires, spark plugs, in-cabin air filter) and maybe even venture into small items (wipers, bulbs, fuses, car care items "think wax on, wax off"). Setup consumer schedule unique to each car owner's car usage and offer to deliver items (such as oil and filter) quarterly or semi-annually. Forget about selling major items (alternators, clutchs, torque converter, transmission, exhaust, suspension, etc). Brand this company with a simple mission - your source for most common car maintenance products.

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