e-commerce and online tyre business news
Autodata has made its vast catalogue of content available to other aftermarket suppliers for integration within their own solutions, as part of an innovative new offering. Historically, this content has only been available to suppliers in raw data format or directly through Autodata’s own products, including their latest award winning workshop application used by tens of thousands of workshops around the world.
Michelin will begin selling tyres directly to consumers online for the first time during the first quarter of 2016. The news came in parallel with the launch of the new Michelin Pilot Sport 4, which will be the first tyre to be sold by the company via this method.
Goodyear has launched its next generation website in the UK and Ireland. While not quite the pioneering retail strategy employed by the manufacturer’s US digital platform, the new site (www.goodyear.co.uk) has increased the company’s interaction with end-consumers – a reaction to the sustained growth in consumers researching their tyre purchase decision online. In an unusual move for tyre manufacturers’ own websites, Goodyear also provides a recommended sell-out price on its tyres, which indicates a step towards the retail activity of its American cousin, albeit without any sort of requirement of the retailer to honour that price.
Charlotte Cooke is joining CAM as customer liaison officer with a view to ensuring regular and proactive communications with clients across the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
Schrader reports that its TPMSEuroshop Starter Kit is now available in several European countries at www.tpmseuroshop.com. Different bundles of the TPMSEuroshop Starter Kit are available including two starter kits featuring the new EZ-sensors 2.0 and two starter kits including the first version of the EZ-sensor.
Monmouth-based Paul Jarrold Tyres is consolidating its tyre software requirements by investing with CAM in a move to a more user-friendly, tyre industry specific technology platform.
Vertu has entered into the online parts sales sector with the acquisition of AceParts; an online vehicle parts business based in Sittingbourne, Kent. The company sells through its own website AceParts and also through Amazon and eBay, using Royal Mail second class post for deliveries throughout the UK.
Last January at its annual dealer conference, Goodyear unveiled plans to launch direct-to-consumer online sales across the US through its Goodyear.com website. Since then, Michelin has bought into two large European e-tailers and Apollo has acquired another. Clearly 2015 has been the year that tyre majors have allowed their online retail strategies surface. And while approaches differ between manufacturers and markets, Goodyear’s US approach is by far the most direct. At the moment, this approach centres on North America, however what we learn from Goodyear’s case is valuable in any market. In mid-November Tire Review editor Jim Smith met with Goodyear’s Mike Dauberman, senior director of marketing and interactive, and Bill Friel, general manager of consumer dealer retail, and here gives Tyres per cent Accessories readers access to their conversation.
Bosch has revamped its website offering, delivering two websites for parts and workshops. According to the company, the move reflects Bosch’s continual approach for “parts, bytes and services for the automotive aftermarket”.
Bosch Auto Parts (www.boschautoparts.co.uk) is aimed at both trade and consumers, recognising the desire for both workshops and the public to find out more about the comprehensive range of quality parts such as wiper blades and batteries.
Autodata’s ‘Diagnostic & Repair’ subscription has been won a ‘Top Product’ award winner in Professional Motor Mechanic Magazine’s 2015 reader poll.
Continental Tyres has its continental-tyres.co.uk web site a makeover and aligned the relaunched version with global sites. “Increasingly our customers are turning to the Internet for information about our tyres,” explained Stephan Meier who heads up eBusiness EMEA at Continental: “With our new-look website we are aiming to offer visitors even more targeted and rapid access to the information they want, providing them, for example, with better and faster online advice on selecting the right Continental tyres for their needs.”
At the start of October in Paris Michelin launched Michelin Tire Care, a suite of connected software solutions designed to help hauliers get the most out of their tyres. The idea is that fleets get more performance (and therefore financial value) from their tyre purchases as they use the mobile/tablet-based software, and in doing so see the benefit of premium and especially Michelin truck tyre products. While software is clearly at the heart of this latest announcement, Tyres & Accessories considers whether we should be using the term “strategy” instead.
At the start of October, the truck/commercial tyre division of Delticom AG, reported that it has successfully recruited further authorized Goodride support centres in Germany.
Take-up of Epyx’s new Tyreserve e-commerce service is reportedly being driven by company car and van drivers. According to Epyx, the option of having tyres fitted during routine servicing (and therefore without visiting a fast-fit centre) is proving to be attractive to fleet end users.
A video games and media technology graduate from the University of the West of England is joining CAM as a software developer. With additional experience in developing product management programs for the food and drink industry, Robert Smith will expand the team’s Microsoft C# and XNA programming capability
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