e-commerce and online tyre business news
ATS Euromaster, in partnership with Blackcircles, has opened its second quick tyre change facility at the Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex, following the success of the first Pit Stop location in Cambridge.
Tyres Online, the website developed by Grouptyre in 2014 to help tyre retailers compete for online sales, has had an enthusiastic uptake by tyre retailers throughout the market place, by independent retailers as well as larger dealer groups and national retailers – according to Grouptyre.
AA Garage Guide, the online search and booking site, is launching an extensive advertising campaign, helping people to better understand how the website differs from its price-driven competitors.
The campaign, which will feature on national radio stations, will communicate the Garage Guide’s primary concern: to provide motorists with access to accredited garages and dealerships who are committed to delivering premium service levels, undertaken by trained professionals. Each registered garage is handpicked with these considerations in mind.
After years in the making, Stapleton’s is releasing TyreSurf – an e-commerce system designed to help tyre retailers boost profits – on a widespread basis. In short, TyreSurf acts as the retailer’s own bespoke branded, website specially created, maintained, and linked into Stapleton’s. Stapleton’s sees the latest development as “almost certainly the company’s greatest e-commerce innovation since the introduction of ProfitLink at the turn of the millennium”.
AA Tyres, the AA’s mobile tyre fitting service, has grown its fleet of vans by 40 per cent in response to escalating demand. The ten new Volkswagen Crafter vans will allow AA Tyres to push into the West Country, where the demand for mobile tyre fitting in Bristol, Bath and the surrounding areas is said to have surged. The AA’s mobile tyre fitting service is currently available between London, Birmingham and Manchester and the surrounding regions.
The Volkswagen Group reports that it is expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) work in order to “not only with a view to using this key technology in the field of autonomous driving and in production, but also to speed up corporate processes”. To that end, Prof. Patrick van der Smagt will be joining the team of AI experts and data scientists at the Volkswagen Group’s Data Lab in Munich from October, and will lead the AI team. Van der Smagt is Associate Professor at Technische Universität München and one of Europe’s leading experts in deep learning and robotics.
Autoparts UK has added a wide range of new features to its web-based garage management tool, Workshop Expert Online, including implementing a fresh, clean design to the ‘Document’ tab to ensure efficient access for users.
The motor factor has worked alongside MAM software to develop key aspects of the platform, improving site navigation and user engagement.
Seventy-four per cent of drivers think insurers should provide cover for damage caused by hackers accessing control systems in driverless cars, according to a survey by road safety charity IAM RoadSmart.
Almost 1,200 people responded to the survey which sought opinions on what driverless cars will mean for them as the UK heads towards autonomous vehicles becoming mainstream. The results of this survey have been used to guide IAM RoadSmart’s response to the Centre for Connected & Autonomous Vehicles’ consultation, Pathway to Driverless Cars.
New research by online car repair marketplace, ClickMechanic, has revealed that every year British motorists lose 893,461,500 hours – that’s more than 37 million days – trying to find a garage or mechanic to fix their car.
With more vehicles on Britain’s roads than ever before it stands to reason that there are more drivers to experience breakdowns and other problems. By the end of March 2016 there were 36.7 million vehicles licensed for use on GB roads – more than 900,000 had registered in that single first quarter of the year alone.
TyreClick, the website developed by Micheldever Tyre Services to help its independent customers compete for online sales, reports that the system has generated £10 million of revenue since its launch. The milestone figure was reached when a motorist placed an order for four 255/40R18 Kumho KU39 tyres with Hucknall Tyre & Exhaust Centre in Nottinghamshire.
In a recent op-ed Harjeev Kandhari, CEO of tyre company Zenises, reflected on possible changes in the way tyres are sold in the future. Kandhari’s first point is that the quality gap between brands that are long-established in the market (the so-called ‘legacy’ brands) and more recent introductions, such as Zenises’ own Z-Tyre, is shrinking fast. There has traditionally been a large difference in price between legacy and the newer tyres, but Kandhari believes that the small differences in performance and technology mean that this gap is no longer appropriate.
Yourtyres.co.uk, an exclusive British online platform for B2B professionals from Europe’s leading online tyre retailer Delticom AG, has encouraged dealers and workshops to plan for winter in advance and ensure a competitive advantage for themselves. The platform states that it has already stocked up with winter tyres from all product segments.
Tyresoft reports that it has released the “first dedicated mobile web portal”as an extension to its popular WebTrade platform. According to the company, WebTrade offers wholesalers and distributors the ability to communicate with their retailers, accept live orders, show live prices and stock availability along with giving the retailer useful analytics on their purchase history.
DriveRightData has established a new sales office in South America as part of the firm’s global expansion plan. This year, the company embarked on a global expansion plan that has seen headquarters established in Los Angeles and South Korea. Last year the company established a base at Mira Technology Park in Nuneaton in Warwickshire, United Kingdom.
Halfords has relaunched its “trade card”, giving trade professionals access to “the best prices on car maintenance tools and products”. The offers comes alongside the launch of a new trade only website, offering the trade exclusive deals and pricing – up to 50 per cent off in some cases.
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