e-commerce and online tyre business news
In August 2021, the people behind Blackcircles ZA announced that the company would tap into “the enormous growth of e-commerce in the country” by launching Blackcircles.co.za in South Africa. Four months later at the end of 2021, the site went live.
Autodoc, the Berlin-based online automotive parts retailer, just got an early Christmas present. The company, which was founded 13 years ago and now has around 4,600 employees in Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Moldova and Russia, reports that sales have exceeded the 1 billion euro mark this year.
Autodoc has appointed Moritz Diekmann as vice president brand management responsible for the development and implementation of then the online auto part retailer’s brand strategy. Within that role, the 49-year-old will develop the Autodoc brand as well as its own brands Ridex and Stark. According to the company, an international team of marketing experts in Berlin and Odessa is available to him for this purpose. Diekmann reports directly to CEO Christian Gisy.
French software and online applications company CrossID is integrating its point-of-sale (POS) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) technologies into CAM International’s TiDaeX online hub. By leveraging CAM’s open- e-jobsheet tyre service app, CrossID’s 320 tyre dealer customers will be able to update their stock in their core systems while offering automatic data sharing with their customers.
Discount Tire, a leading independent tyre and wheel retailer in the US is acquiring Tire Rack, which is known for its tyre tests and is a “consumer-direct source for tyres, wheels and performance accessories”. According to the company, the investment is part of Discount Tire’s vision of creating an “Easy, and Safe omnichannel, B2B, and fleet customer experience”. The transaction is expected to close on 31 December 2021.
Online booking system GaragesNear.me has announced it is going commission-free until at least the end of 2021. The platform is waiving its 10 per cent fee to encourage more bookings and build on its success. This means the site is completely free to garages.
With multiple sources suggesting that the online tyre business broke new ground during 2020, but with data illustrating that trend less easy to come by, Tyres & Accessories caught up with Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS) wholesale director Graham Mitchell in order to get a leading tyre wholesaler’s perspective. Starting by setting the company’s recent online tyre business performance into the context of its recent history, our interview looks to the future of the online tyre business and touches on the importance of search engine marketing in the tyre trade.
Tyres-N-Parts. This familiar-sounding name belongs to a new B2B digital sales platform aimed at car dealerships and workshops as well as tyre dealers. The Michelin-backed venture is initially launching in Germany and aims to act as an online one-stop-shop for tyres and automotive spare parts. Tyres-N-Parts believes it will become “a model that will define the future of tyre and parts retailing.”
On the one hand, most sources agree that online tyre demand is booming as a result of the pandemic and its related lockdowns. However, on the other hand, such rapid growth has also led to increased competition online. One way of finding which tyre firms are getting ahead in the online space is to consider the race for pole-position in Google search results. Since Google is the by far the biggest search engine online holding a dominant 92.47 per cent global market share as of June 2021 (87.7 per cent in the UK specifically), getting your brand ahead of the competition in search results makes a big difference. And paid search advertising, known as pay-per-click (PPC) – is one way to do that. In order to get a handle on the tyre retail sector’s virtual performance in 2021, Tyres & Accessories worked with SEO marketing specialists Evolved who analysed the organic search and PPC performance of the top 23 UK-based etailers and concluded that online specialist Blackcircles is taking ground from bricks and mortar market leader Kwik Fit, amongst other things.
During our recent visit to Magowan’s T&A met with founder Darryl Magowan Snr., Darryl Magowan Jnr, David Magowan and IT manager Ben Tinsley who gave us a guided tour around the bespoke newbuild warehouse and who also explained the thinking that has gone into the project.
Such is brake manufacturer TMD Friction’s emphasis on the strategic significance of its data quality, for more than over 10 years it has taked a specialised data team to continuously improving product and catalogue data. To this end, TecAlliance supports TMD Friction in ensuring that optimal product and catalogue data is available at points of service worldwide, supporting sustainable business success. As a founding member and shareholder of TecAlliance, TMD Friction relies on the know-how and support of TecAlliance teams worldwide for optimal data management.
Last year GfK analysts reported that online tyre buying has increased as a consequence of recent lockdowns. Based on the same sources, it has been further predicted that more tyres will be sold online and that the budget tyre sector will benefit the most from the prevailing conditions. In addition, Statista research into online shopping behaviour in the UK shows that British buying habits have changed as a consequence of the pandemic. By February 2021, approximately 75 per cent of UK shoppers said that they have been shopping more online. And a report published in May 2021 found that over 93 per cent of consumers had made a purchase online in the last 30 days. So, we know it is growing in popularity, but is buying tyres online a good idea? Since offline shopping has decreased over the course of time, and as more and more people are turning towards online shopping, Tyres & Accessories took note when retailer Dartford Tyres shares its reasons in favour of buying tyres online.
Delphi Technologies has launched the Delphi Technologies Academy – a new e-learning platform aimed at those in the automotive industry wanting to “enhance their skills and keep up to date with the latest technological developments”. The platform, launched in September, significantly enhances the company’s existing training portfolio.
Michelin has added the last 60 per cent of leading French tyre e-tailer Allopneus to the 40 per cent stake the leading tyremaker bought in 2015. Michelin now “intends to develop its knowledge of customer behaviour and the purchasing process and thus continue to offer the best possible experience, from online information seeking, right up to tyre fitting”, company representatives wrote in a statement dated 25 August.
Autodoc
Autodoc
CAM
Tire Rack
GaragesNear.me
GaragesNear.me
Kaboompics
Magowan Tyres
TecAlliance
Andrea Piacquadio
Delphi Technologies
Allopneus; Michelin