Tips for Selling Online

Are you selling more today than you were two years ago? Or are sales down?

Selling auto parts online might be the easiest way to bring back those sales you've lost over the past couple of years. The technology to sell online is now widely available. Besides, many of your customers already research parts online or look for inventory before coming through your door. If you're considering selling online here's a checklist to follow:

1). First, decide how you'll sell online. You basically have 3 choices: either use a turnkey solution to sell online through your own site; sell through shopping sites like eBay; or build your own site from scratch. Even if you're undecided, each way has similar requirements. (To learn more, see my earlier blog comparing these 3 options in detail).

2). Don't forget the data! No matter how you plan to sell online you'll need data: part numbers, prices, descriptions, weights, dimensions, hazardous material information, and so on. And if you sell products specific to certain vehicles you'll need to know all the variations of year/make/model as well as submodel or engine. Fortunately, product data is one of the easiest things to obtain if you plan ahead.

Why not just create data yourself? Look at the numbers: The average online store sells about 5,000 part numbers. Even retailers making a living selling on eBay usually have 2,000 to 4,000 auctions at one time. Doing data yourself means keying thousands of part numbers, writing thousands of descriptions (don't copy someone else's copyrighted words), finding out thousands of dimensions and weights...well, it goes on and on. If you could create one complete listing every 20 minutes, it would take one person a staggering 41 weeks to create 5,000 part numbers, at 40 hours a week! And industry-wide, an average of 300 existing part numbers are changed or updated per week!

3). You need a shopping cart to process credit cards. A shopping cart is software that lets your customer "check out" with their purchase. If you're not selling through eBay you need one and you need to be able to process credit cards. You can either buy your own shopping cart software and integrate it into your store, or use a turnkey solution that includes it.

4). Your customers need shipping info. When your customers buy, they want to know when a product will be shipped and if it will cost extra. If you sell on eBay this is built-in. But if you sell online through your own site, it needs to be displayed for your customer in real time, otherwise you have to hand-calculate every order--including the ones you get at 3:00 am! (The weights and dimensions I mentioned in #2 product data above are needed to calculate shipping.) A turnkey solution should have this built-in.

5). Market your online store. When you sell online you're competing around the world! That might sound scary but shouldn't. For example, if your online store has a built-in blog it will help bring in shoppers. If your online store is configured correctly, shoppers will find you by searching for part numbers or descriptions online (that's the importance of product data, again). The number of part numbers you sell has a direct relationship to marketing because more part numbers will not only make your store more attractive, it will make it easier to find through search engines. Another good marketing tool is having new part numbers available quickly.

6). Site search. When customers can find something in your online store easily, they're more likely to buy. This is one of the top secrets of the biggest online retailers! Sites with well-designed search functions have seen sales increases of 10% to 30% or more. A turnkey solution should have search built-in, otherwise you'll need to have your programmers build this for you. If you're having a programmer create your search function keep in mind you may want your customers to be able to search by keyword and you may also want them to be able to search by part description so your programmer will need to design a database structure with that in mind.

by Rob Eberhart, Direct Communications, Inc. (DCi)

Selling auto parts and accessories online may seem out of reach, but technology has made it easier for independent store owners than you might think.

Online sales are growing. In an economy like ours, the past two years have been rough. Most independent stores have lost business and it doesn't look like it's coming back any time soon. Internet sales are one of the few bright spots. In 2009, retail sales over the Internet were up while conventional retail sales were down. More than $1.2 billion in auto parts and accessories were sold over the Internet last year.

Even if shoppers buy in a store, the majority now use the Internet to find parts before driving to buy. As many as eight out of 10 retail store shoppers now research parts or search for inventory before buying in a retail store.

Selling online is now easy. Technology has made it easier than ever to open your own online store. You no longer have to hire teams of programmers and web designers, and you don't have to invest thousands of dollars in computers.

How to make the leap. There are many ways to sell online, from developing your own store, to buying turnkey solutions. Here's a look at three ways to do it.

1). Do It Yourself. If you have access to someone with skills in designing sites you can create your own. The advantage of this approach is that you have control over every step of the process and you can end up with a completely customized online store. The disadvantage is this can be the most expensive and longest route to take, costing $20,000 to $50,000 or more and six to nine months. You will also need to spend time creating product information for all your parts: descriptions, photography, dimensions, what vehicle a part fits, and so on.

2). Selling Through Other Sites. You can set up a storefront or have an online presence on a site like eBay, or by becoming active in an automotive forum or online community where members sell parts. The advantage of this is that you don't have to invest much in the design of a store. The disadvantage is that your visibility is limited to shoppers who are members of the community and it requires a lot of your time to be active in the community. You'll also be responsible for photography and writing any product descriptions and you may have to pay fees per transaction.

3). Do It For Me. Changes in technology have made buying turnkey solutions an affordable way to sell online. The advantage of outsourcing your online store this way is that you can be selling online in 90 days or less, complete product information and photography is included, and you can choose from various options for a customized store of your own.

For more information: If you're interested in a Do It For Me solution to selling online, give me a call!

by Rob Eberhart, Direct Communications, Inc. (DCi)

Here's a checklist of ten simple tips that can help you sell online.

1. Product content is king. The right content can increase sales of a single part number up to 700%. I've seen it happen many times. Just the addition of a photo or descriptive copy can suddenly increase sales of an individual part number. Shoppers want the answers to their questions before buying. Try it yourself—select a part number, add good photos and descriptive copy and measure the results, before and after.

2. Add-on sales: the key to huge profits. Add-on sales include related items like gaskets or mounting kits. They increase profits because the customer's already buying from you and you've already paid for any cost-per-click advertising. You're just getting them to spend more, say $200 instead of $150. Add-ons can increase sales 5%, 10% or more.

3. Increase sales with a 'sticky' site. When your web site is "sticky" customers return on their own. You can increase repeat traffic by 10% to 40% which in turn increases sales. Features like blogs, customer reviews, inventory status, or new products are great ways to build return traffic, and are now simpler to do than you might think!

4. Site appearance. If your site doesn't have the right "look" you might be losing sales. Recent research by SEMA documented how if your site doesn't have the right look it stops shoppers from buying. So how do you get the right look? Professionally-designed graphics, well-planned navigation and easy to find contact information all contribute to having the look of a reputable online business.

5. Live chat: It's no longer a technology just for the largest retailers! It's easy to add to your site and greatly helps close sales and reduce shopping cart abandons. Live chat gives customers a boost of confidence to place an order. Give it the same hours as your normal business hours to make it manageable, it doesn't need to be 24 hours a day. 

6. More part numbers = more sales. It's pretty simple, the more part numbers you have, the more you'll sell. The more selection on your site, the more an average customer will buy from you…this is a documented phenomenon that large retailers have known about for years. And, with more part numbers, your online business will show up in more Google searches, so more shoppers will find you. 

7. Credibility. Create instant credibility when your product descriptions or year/make/model references are accurate. Make sure you have correct model years listed, not just "2007-up." Have accurate make/model descriptions, not "full size Chevy pickup." That will all increase sales. Each month, thousands of part numbers have changes to vehicle makes, models and engines, and if you keep up you'll look like an online pro.

8. New products. Retailers sell more by having all the newest products first, it's a proven fact. In 2009 an average of 769 part numbers were either released or updated every day, 7 days a week, and that adds up to hundreds of thousands of part numbers in a year. When you have these new products first your sales will go up!

9. Navigation and search: If your customers can find it, they're more likely to buy it! Poor results for search is one of the biggest reasons shoppers do not buy from a web site along with search that is difficult to use. On the other hand, well-designed search is one of the most popular ways for shoppers to find and buy a product, and sites with well-designed search functions have seen sales increases of 10% to 30% or more.

10. Repeat purchases: One of the profit "secrets" of experienced online retailers is effective marketing to past customers to get them to buy again. A past customer is twice or three times more likely to buy from you than a new customer, so marketing to your past customers makes a lot of sense. Retailers that aggressively go after repeat business generally have profits 20%-30% higher than companies that don't! Don't leave these dollars on the table, these are your customers to market to.