Dot-Com Middle Men

[Daryl]

My dealership has been approached by a .Com outfit which offers to build a working storefront to our current Dealership Web address so customers could order online. There service would also direct traffic from their main site for purchases to be made at my store from points nationwide. All this for a very modest fee. Keep in mind, these guys are on the up and up from the investigating I've done and not some fly-by-night jokers. My question is this - Has anyone used a Web site storefront to sell parts? If so has this been worth anything to you (ex. increased sales, customer satisfaction, name recognition, ...) ? I really am intrested in this, however it is not something I want to jump into without serious forethought. Thanks for your time and response.

[MBailey]

I have not done so yet, but am also very interested in establishing a web presence for parts and accessory sales. My rep has told me about several success stories regarding similar size stores as mine (and smaller) who have added 10-20K in monthly sales from the web. Would you mind e-mailing me your connection - I would like to talk to them.

Thanks,

Mark W. Bailey

[Matt Parsons]

I believe that Hillsdale Chrysler-Plymouth in Hillsdale, Michigan has had a great deal of success in selling parts via the web. The dealer (Tom Vann) has been speaking at a number of industry events over the past year and this is one of the areas that he discusses in-depth.

Hope this helps as a contact...

[This message has been edited by Matt Parsons (edited 04-11-2001).]

[Gary J. Naples]

Daryl,

You don't say who approached you. However, I can put you in touch with an excellent company offering web based marketing solutions for parts departments that produce outstanding results without compromising dealership image. I interviewed three users of this system for my article on web site design which appeared in the December 2000 issue of The Parts Manager. If you or anyone else is interested, give me a call at (570) 824-1528 or e-mail me at gss83@aol.com.

Gary J. Naples
GNA