Stapleton’s rolls out updated ProfitLink and TyreSurf

Nearly 20 years after Stapleton’s introduced the ProfitLink ecommerce system, the company is rolling out an upgraded version along with the latest edition of TyreSurf. The news follows an earlier ProfitLink overhaul just a few years ago, with the introduction of the retail mark ups system. In addition, Stapleton’s made an announcement in May this year, when Stapleton’s Wholesale director Nigel O’Hara revealed that the market could expect a new edition of ProfitLink.

“It’s nearly 20 years since Stapleton’s broke new ground for the tyre industry with the introduction of our ProfitLink ecommerce system – and, though you wouldn’t think it now, as you can buy anything you like instantly on your phone, back then it really was revolutionary,’ says Stapleton’s commercial director Stephen Childs. “And I’m pleased to say it’s still at the cutting edge – because we never stop consulting our retail partners to find ways to improve the system.’

Back at the time of the May announcement work was well under way on a reinvention of the search page that would give retailers far greater searching functionality – something akin to the way Amazon works. Now that work is nearing completion – and the new improved search function has been rolled out to a test group of customers so that Stapleton’s can act on their feedback to iron out any teething problems. And, with their customary ‘belt and braces’ thoroughness, they’re due to roll out a second phase of testing to a new panel of customers in the coming weeks.

This is par for the course with Stapleton’s – as Stephen Childs explains: “Like pretty much everything we undertake, ProfitLink is a two-way thing – it’s collaborative. As well as accepting and processing orders, the system feeds back the key data that our retail partners need to make the right purchasing decisions, to develop effective purchasing strategies and ultimately to ensure they can offer their own customer tyres for virtually every vehicle on the road and deliver with unprecedented rapidity”.

The latest edition of TyreSurf

A much more recent, but no less radical, Stapleton’s innovation was TyreSurf in 2015, with Stapleton’s providing an exciting a way for tyre retailers to boost their profits and wave goodbye to missed sales opportunities.

But things change ever more quickly – so three years on Stapleton’s has already refined the TyreSurf interface with a fresh, user-friendly new look. Originally the concept was anticipating and responding to a change in consumer buying habits as the Internet became the natural place to gather information and evaluate choices before making a purchase decision.

“The aim was to ensure our retail partners can be open for business 24/7, 365 days a year,” O’Hara commented. “And if that was essential then – it’s doubly important now because consumers expect to be able to click through and buy whatever they want in an instant – and that goes for tyres as much as for anything else.”

The new Tyresurf template is already being rolled out to existing customers and offered immediately to new sign-ups to the initiative. Importantly, Google ‘local’ set-up is part of the package. It’s also said to be easy to use – consumers simply enter their vehicle registration or tyre size and TyreSurf does the rest. As well as proposing a selection of brands and tyre patterns from the available manufacturers, it can also help to promote a preferred brand by elevating it to the top of returned searches.

“We’re very excited about the new look and new feel of both online services,” Childs adds. “They’re proof if any were needed of our conviction that this is the future of tyre retail – and these updates ensure that they’ll be powerful revenue generators for our retail partners now and in years to come.”