AA Garage Guide, the online search and booking site for MOTs, servicing and repairs that puts quality first, says that its new Guide Price tool is already helping to make the garages in their network more efficient, saving them time and money by not having to quote on jobs.
As reported at the start of the month, an eBay tyre fitting service is now available in the UK in partnership with Blackcircles.com. The service was launched at the time of the year when the days grow shorter and motorists should prepare their vehicles, particularly their tyres, for winter roads. Kevin Steward, head of sales, Vehicle Parts & Accessories, UK Trading at eBay, has written the following tips for tyre sellers hoping to capitalise on this season’s winter tyre market.
Michelin reports an aim of growing online sales through its Euromaster retail network in the UK and Europe by 25 per cent in 2018. This projected growth follows a 30 per cent increase in online sales through Euromaster this year, with online sales accounting for 15 per cent of all Euromaster sales in 2017.
Comline Auto Parts (Comline) has officially launched its ‘My Comline’ marketing portal, which is exclusively available to Comline Factor partners across Europe. My Comline features an array of marketing options including customisable promotions, branded clothing and merchandise, promotional literature, banners, signage and display items.
Roadlink International has made a series of updates to its increasingly popular online catalogue, available at www.roadlink-international.com. The company’s extensive range of products can be easily accessed through the online catalogue including: Brake calipers, discs, drums, pads, shoes, linings, shock absorbers including the European leading brand AL-KO, OE truck and trailer components, as well as many more OE-quality products.
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.
Valeo Service UK has launched Techassist, a web based tool offering customers both a technical database to assist with Valeo products and a learning platform featuring a forum of useful information.
A survey of over 100 senior UK haulage fleet managers, conducted by the Association for Driving Licence Verification, has shown that 91 per cent of respondents want CPC & Tacho data to be available alongside online driving licence checks. They also believe that its inclusion would eliminate the industry’s current but imprecise reliance on visual data checking. A further 90 per cent felt that the availability of CPC and Tacho information would make their own monitoring of driver entitlement easier, by supporting existing HR systems and acting as a single point of reference.
A new report into the UK’s car buying habits has revealed the impact that technological and generational changes are having on the country’s motorists – and the people they buy their cars from. The 2016 Car Buyers’ Census, compiled from an online YouGov poll by the search engine Carsnip, revealed a growing ‘generation gap’ among drivers, with many younger people embracing new technologies and peer-reviews to make the task of purchasing a car easier than ever. According to the survey, so-called ‘Millennial and ‘Generation Z’ drivers were twice as likely to use online car search when buying a car compared to over-55s.
Wales’ Huw Lewis Tyres has added a one-click-fit feature and dual-language support to its website in a move that was part-funded by the Michelin Auto Professional programme’s business development fund.
The revamped website showcases the Michelin Certified Centre dealership’s entire tyre product range and service offering in both English and Welsh, along with a ‘find my tyres’ page that matches prospective customers’ cars with their ideal fitments.
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.
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.
In April, Goodyear Tire & Rubber chairman and chief executive Richard Kramer shared plans to introduce a company-owned online tyre retail platform in the USA. After opening for business in September, the tyre maker reports that the goodyear.com tyre sales site is now serving customers across the entire country. More than 4,000 outlets, including 600 Goodyear tyre and service centres, have joined the programme and will act as fitters for tyres purchased through the site.
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