The Lincoln branch of national garage chain IN‘n’OUT Autocentres has become the latest workshop to tackle its own staff shortage by taking on a technician from India through Easy2Recruit, the agency helping garages hire overseas talent.
There’s no denying that the tyre business has become more digital and connected than ever before, but there are a number of sides to that equation. We know that between 60 and 80 per cent of tyre-buying consumers were doing pre-sale research online before the pandemic. Similarly, industry insiders have been saying that 10 per cent of tyres are bought online for something like a decade now. But anecdotal evidence from tyre retailers themselves reveals that, amongst those working for the large chains at least, many customers walk through the door to receive a tyre change that has already been booked online. Apparently, some of the younger generation just walk in and hold up a QR code on their phone! This month’s Tyres & Accessories looked into these kinds of questions, asking what it means for the tyre business to be digitally native. And it starts with a brand-new ranking of the leading tyre retail, e-tail and tyre comparison websites.
11th-placed Just Tyres maintained a total of 38 tyre retail locations, according to our 2023 table. However, that figure is one centre lower than it was this time last year. Nevertheless, the total remains one branch greater than five years ago.
In recent years autocentres have been selling more tyres than ever. At the same time, specialist tyre retailers – such as those featured on our annual table, have moved towards additional servicing and mechanical repairs in order to increase sales. This is especially the case at the top of the table, amongst the largest tyre retail chains where as much as 45 per cent of annual turnover is now made up of non-tyre sales.
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Halfords
