How Does EDI Work?

Mike Manning on July 21, 2022

Why Do I Need It for My Automotive Business?

As a technology, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is 50 years old – not exactly cutting edge. But the ability to exchange common business documents electronically between trading partners has never been more important. And today EDI is less costly and easier to implement than ever. Let’s look at some of the unique EDI requirements and industry-specific solutions available in the auto parts distribution industry.

What is EDI and How Does it Work?

The automotive business produces millions of transactions such as purchase orders, ship notices and invoices every day. In paper form, these documents are expensive and time-consuming to manage. Since every enterprise of any size uses computer systems to create and receive its transactions, doesn’t it make sense to exchange these messages electronically?

The core function of EDI is to take a message, such as a purchase order, from the Buyer’s computer system, and send that message to the vendor’s computer system in a form that it can understand and process. The devil is in the details. It is almost certain that the systems of the trading partners will require different communication protocols; they can potentially format their documents in unique languages and structures; and the technical specifications are certain to vary field by field (length, syntax, decimals, etc).

Given the limitless combinations and permutations of format, protocol and specification it’s a miracle that any message can be successfully understood by two business systems. Thanks to global EDI standards and industry-specific solutions and best practices, it is common for disparate technologies to exchange messages successfully. And it can be engineered to communicate with any auto parts drop shipping software.

EDI connectivity is typically done in one of two ways:

Point-to-point – this refers to the single-use integration that is engineered between the trading partners for each new connection. This requires both parties to have EDI software and a high level of technical resources. This limits the number of connections that can be put into production in a limited amount of time. The biggest drawback is that if any facet of the connection: protocol, format, or specification, changes on the part of any trading partner, the connection fails, and errors occur. Point-to-point is, therefore, only the best choice when alternatives do not exist.
Third-Party EDI solution providers – As the name suggests, when a solution provider is positioned between the trading partners, the connectivity is no longer to a single point, but to a network of other trading partners connected to the provider. The role of the third party is to translate, convert or map the messages from their original form to that required by the trading partner. New connections can go into production in much less time than point-to-point because each trading partner only needs to connect to the EDI service provider one time.
Industry-focused Third-Party solutions: When a solution provider is focused on an industry such as auto parts and accessories, they can optimize their technology for the specific requirements of the active trading partners. For example, the field “Core Value” is important to pricing a remanufactured product but could be misunderstood in the Grocery industry. Additionally, large nationwide retailers and distributors require hundreds of trading partner connections – all with similar technical requirements and specifications. GCommerce is a third-party EDI solution provider serving the automotive aftermarket almost exclusively. A benefit of their domain expertise across several thousands of connections was to document and share an EDI Super Spec© that reflected the common practices of the trading partners they served. 80-90% of the automotive EDI requirements are reflected in the Super Spec and re-used from one connection to the next. This makes new EDI connections much faster and simpler to put into production.

What are the Benefits of EDI to Automotive Distributors and Brands?

Electronic documents are less costly and faster to exchange than paper. EDI purchase orders get received and entered in the supplier’s business system in seconds with no manual data entry or errors. EDI Shipping Notices inform the Buyer of the parts in the shipment before the truck leaves the shipping dock. And EDI Invoices complete the procurement cycle and allow the accounts payable system to reconcile the PO and Shipment with the Invoice electronically and only report exceptions that require intervention. Staff can focus on tasks of higher value instead of pushing paper and entering data that was electronic before it got printed by the sender.
While it may not be very sexy, savings in paper and postage costs can add up to be substantial in a high-volume enterprise.
Business decisions and processes are only as good as the latest information about your business. When transactions are exchanged via EDI and data is presented in seconds rather than hours or days, data collection, reporting, and analytics are more actionable and valuable.
In the auto parts distribution business, inventory availability and safety stocks are critical differentiators. The best businesses are measured with superior inventory turns and service levels. Faster order-to-sale cycles enabled by EDI ensure higher parts availability and lower the amount of safety stock required to cover for delays and uncertainty.

GCommerce is the leader in proving EDI messaging services to thousands of unique trading partner connections in the automotive, heavy-duty, specialty accessories, paint and body, and tools and equipment distribution channels. Their automotive EDI solution environment is the fastest and most reliable network in the industry.

Auto Parts Supply Chain Issues and Visibility

Mike Manning on June 23, 2022

Learn How Supply Chain Visibility in the Automotive Aftermarket Can Help

Much like traveling down a foggy road, a lack of visibility can cause many unforeseen issues. Deer crossing the road, stalled and slow-moving vehicles, or in this case, automotive parts supply chain shortages, to name a few examples. Visibility is important, we can’t help you with the foggy road but supply chain visibility in the automotive aftermarket is our niche.

Auto parts supply chain shortages have been an ongoing issue for the past 2 years. We consistently hear that manufacturers don’t have the materials they need to make the auto parts they sell and that distributors and warehouses have no auto parts to ship. Aftermarket accessories are facing the same issues on new and used vehicles. This is all interesting and not exactly news but can something be done or is there a way to ease the pain of this auto parts inventory shortage?

This blog will address the following questions about supply chain visibility in the automotive aftermarke t and how it can help alleviate the current supply chain issues that so many warehouses and distributors are currently facing:

Why is the aftermarket supply chain unique in what it does and how it performs?
What are the factors contributing to disruption and where is the pain felt?
What is supply chain visibility and how can it address disruption and increase sales?
What are the key ingredients in proving supply chain visibility?

Why is the automotive aftermarket supply chain unique?

The automotive aftermarket supply chain is a complex network of manufacturers, remanufacturers, importers, suppliers, and distributors who make millions of unique parts available for hundreds of millions of vehicles anywhere and anytime they are needed – most of the time. Delivering on the promise of “any part, anywhere, anytime” has been much harder to deliver in the pandemic era due to due to supply chain issues starting with access to raw materials.

Even before the pandemic, a global shortage of microchips was affecting auto and truck production and vehicle sales were beginning to slow. Covid restrictions forced factories to close or restrict business practices for a time and stay-at-home orders decreased vehicle use and demand. In a matter of months, the automotive industry began to spring back – but the damage had been done. New vehicle production and consumer demand were down. Prices were up for new and used vehicles. Consumers held on to their existing vehicles and the average age of the US vehicle fleet reached 12 years old according to IHS Markit (www.ihsmarkit.com).

What are the factors contributing to the disruption of auto parts supply?

Unprecedented backlogs developed in raw material supply chains and container ships were held waiting at major US ports for clearance. Factories and distribution centers were low on staff for health and safety reasons as well as personal financial considerations. Because of this auto parts couldn’t get manufactured and distributed at the volume needed to keep up with the growing demand.

Manufacturers were heard to say, “I have shortages in raw material, laborers, and everything except demand.” Retailers and distributors lament the additional sales they could make if only they could get all the products they ordered. “It takes longer to get here and the order fill is much lower than pre-pandemic”. So even when orders arrive, distributors would receive 30-40 parts of an order for 100. Only being able to fill 40% of your orders may not be able to be helped but it still doesn’t make for happy customers.

Simply put, the aftermarket supply chain is seriously disrupted, and traditional sources of supply are failing to keep up with demand. In a recent survey of 500 automotive service shops, IMR (www.automotiveresearch.com) reported that 50% of auto parts shops report frequent disruption to their auto parts availability and 34% report the disruption as occasional. Previously, IMR reported that 50% of shops find it necessary to shop for parts online, and online purchases account for 10% of their total purchases

What is supply chain visibility?

The aftermarket supply chain is unique in providing vehicle fitment-specific parts for anything from the newest model to roll out of the showroom to the repair parts for vehicles manufactured 50 years ago and more. Not to mention the ability to search for these different vehicle fitment auto parts in a variety of ways.

The expectation of consumers has always been that no matter what part their car needs, their mechanic can have it in the shop in under an hour. That promise of unlimited availability is under pressure and impossible to fulfill if the shop limits its source of supply to a couple of preferred brands and a handful of first-call retailers.

However, the vast network of automotive parts suppliers can still serve the needs of consumers and their service providers thanks to the diversity of brands, nationwide coverage of distribution, and the strategic application of technology that can create “endless aisles of auto parts.”

This is especially applicable to online commerce. Buyers expect to have visibility to all products in all categories and all brands when they shop online. Manufacturers and distributors need to supply inventory availability data frequently throughout the day. Catalog and point of sale systems can look up an application for a vehicle one time and interchange similar parts across many brands instantly. This makes the power of eCommerce a must-have to stay competitive in the automotive aftermarket.

The Reality of Auto Parts Inventory

The reality, however, is that a distributor of Brand X parts only carries in inventory the part numbers with a reasonable chance of selling in their service area within a finite time (3 times per year or once per quarter, for example). The majority of the SKUs available from the manufacturer – the brand new product introductions and long-tail parts that fit vehicles out of their prime – are only available from factory distribution for drop shipment. This is where supply chain visibility in the automotive aftermarket coupled with a system that communicates between manufacturers and distributors comes in handy. That part that seems to be out of stock everywhere locally can be drop shipped to the address of the parts store or the end-user, quickly and efficiently.

What are the key ingredients in proving supply chain visibility?

Solutions exist in the aftermarket today that allow consumers and professional shops to search for parts across the country. But, the most complete solution to disruption in the supply chain is for manufacturers to provide an inventory backstop for their distributors and drop ship the products that are not in stock anywhere else.

GCommerce’s Virtual Inventory Cloud solution enables retailers and distributors to quote availability and capture sales for auto parts they do not have in stock.

Is There an End in Sight for the Auto Parts Inventory Shortages?

The current disruption in the automotive supply chain will resolve itself in the next year or two. But the need for end-to-end visibility and collaboration in the supply chain will continue and grow as long as auto parts inventories and the vehicle population also grow. To find out how GCommerce can help you stay connected with the most up-to-date inventory in the automotive aftermarket contact us at (515) 218-1975 today.

Creating an eCommerce Game Plan for Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers

Scott Luckett on May 26, 2022

Automotive Aftermarket eCommerce Growth Banner

Learn Why Having an eCommerce Game Plan is Important and Get Tips on Creating a Plan

Click to Download the eCommerce Game Plan for Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers

Sales in aftermarket automotive parts have grown exponentially year over year since the mid-2010s but in the last few years the growth has been unprecedented. This is, in no small part, due to the buying changes brought on by the pandemic. These buying changes are here to stay and the manufacturers and distributors with an eCommerce gameplan in place are best positioned to grow and improve their market share.

Recently, AASA and the Auto Care Association published a joint study that included the following findings:
• Online sales represent a 12% share of all light-duty parts sales in the U.S. aftermarket, totaling $34.7 billion
• eCommerce has grown at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 20% over the last decade. That’s an average of 20% each year for 10 years
• The pandemic accelerated the adoption of eCommerce and created new buying habits which are here to stay
• eCommerce continues to grow in the aftermarket and is expected to top $50 Billion by 2025

eCommerce Standards and Best Practices

There are specific drivers and eCommerce best practices that need to be in place to create an efficient and sustainable automotive digital marketing strategy. Product information or content, Pricing, Assortment, and Fulfillment are the drivers that currently lead the charge to success in the automotive aftermarket eCommerce world.

Auto Parts Content:

Auto Parts Content: Automotive eCommerce starts with product details and content. ACES (Catalog Information) and PIES (Product Data) are the current standards for this information and are available to distributors, manufacturers, and store owners. High-quality digital images of products and aftermarket auto parts are the third piece of that puzzle. Online marketplaces want the most current, complete, and high-quality product content and fitment information.

Pricing:

Your automotive products are probably already being sold on the marketplaces. Marketplaces need
to have a consistent sell price, regardless of where the product is being shipped, which requires them to have a consistent acquisition cost.

Assortment:

The more SKUs you list online, the higher your sales will be. What may be a slow-mover
in the brick & mortar world is often a fast-mover online. Shoppers go online in search of
hard-to-find products, long-tail items, or brand-new product introductions.

Fulfillment:

Once an order is placed, it all comes down to fulfillment. Proximity to the end customer
keeps freight costs to a minimum. Marketplaces aim to provide delivery in two days or less without expedited handling for 80% of shipping addresses. Rapid order turnaround and very high accuracy are valued and measured by the marketplaces. Automotive parts drop shippers play a huge role in shipping products from the best locations for the lowest prices.

The Distributor as the Vendor of Record

One method of drop shipment is for you to back up the inventory of your distributor customers. In this model, the Distributor is the vendor of record and you are working with them. The Distributor may have some 1P stock business, but it is most likely a 1P drop ship that accounts for most of the transactions.

The Brand Owner as the Vendor of Record

In an alternative strategy, the marketplace wants to stock some of your faster-moving products, and have others drop shipped. The marketplace wants a low and consistent acquisition cost. They require EDI and API integrations, the accuracy of the scan to pack, as well as both carton and pallet label capabilities. In this model, the brand owner is the vendor of record and is working with distribution to maximize sales in the marketplace.

Digital Growth in Automotive Aftermarket

With a growth trend of 20% or better per year, eCommerce in the automotive aftermarket is expected to reach $50 billion in the near future, so it is important for your company to have an eCommerce strategy and playbook.

Brand owners and distributors are both needed to enable the infinite aisles and service
levels required by the marketplaces. eCommerce requires collaboration between brands
and distribution to meet the requirements of the fastest-growing channel of the sale in the
industry. Powerful business solutions and platforms are available that deliver a high
level of control over brand equity.

This blog represents a small sample of what the Creating an eCommerce Gameplan for Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers whitepaper covers. Please visit the GCommerce case studies page for the full whitepaper.

Digital Transformation in the Automotive Industry

Mike Manning on March 7, 2022

Manufacturers and Digital Commerce Planning Workshops

In February of 2022, GCommerce was fortunate to participate
in a gathering of the Dana
Aftermarket Team for a Digital Transformation Workshop designed to help their
team better understand the digital transformation and eCommerce trends in the auto
parts aftermarket, so they could confidently engage customers and facilitate
growth. Digital transformation is happening in the automotive industry now. Understanding
and making the necessary moves it takes to stay current with the auto industry’s
digital direction is paramount for continued growth and success.

According to Data from the Auto Care Association and AASA, Digital Commerce in the Auto Parts Aftermarket has been growing at a 19.24% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) since 2013, while brick and mortar business has been growing at a 2.54% CAGR over the same period. Digital Commerce now represents 12% of total aftermarket sales, and studies show that 70%+ of end users are using digital channels to research prior to purchase. Learning to navigate this changing and growing channel is imperative for auto parts manufacturers and distributors alike.

Benefits of Digital Commerce to Brand Owners include:

Improved Brand Equity through
direct control of Online Product Content
Direct Influence over resale
price; versus trying to police Minimum Advertised Price (MAP)
Infinite Aisles of Aftermarket
Automotive Product for Customers; visibility to Distribution and Manufacturing
Inventory
New Product Introduction for parts
not yet stocked by Brick and Mortar outlets, which also provides proven sales
history to promote stocking within the Supply Chain.
Direct feedback from Customers,
which eliminates lag time and allows for better decisions.
Increased sales for Distribution
partners through tools provided by Brand Owners

Internal speakers from Dana covered topics such as lead generation, Google, benchmarking, and digital diagnostics at the Digital Transformation Workshop. Guest speakers covered Digital Trends in Industrial segments, Aftermarket Automotive Digital Commerce, product content, drop shipping/fulfillment, change management, and customer experience. Digital Commerce touches many different operations within a manufacturer, and it is important to include them all.

Through this format, participants were able to provide valuable feedback so the strategy and tactics could be refined to best suit customer needs, and participants were given new tools to help them guide customers to success. GCommerce was honored to be able to participate and provide input to the Dana team on automotive eCommerce trends, auto parts order fulfillment processes, and the role technology companies play in connecting manufacturers to buyers. Digital Commerce is growing and changing, so it’s important to have a strategy and continue to refine that strategy. Dana’s Digital Transformation Workshop did exactly that. Kudos to the leadership of Dana! The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators. Every participant in the Dana Digital Transformation Workshop left as a more able navigator. If you would like to organize an Automotive Digital Transformation Workshop like this for your company, and want to learn more about what Dana did, you may reach out to Beth Mooney, Senior Manager: Ecommerce & Marketing, beth.mooney@dana.com. If your company does decide to have such a workshop, GCommerce would like to contribute.

Webinar: Aftermarket eCommerce Strategies That Avoid Channel Conflict

Mike Manning on January 28, 2022

Please join us Wednesday, February 16, 2:00 pm Eastern.

Learn about these important eCommerce strategies for manufacturers, brand owners and distributors that help avoid channel conflict. A link for the registration page for this free webinar is here.

Channel conflict tends to be one of the main concerns when a brand owner considers eCommerce and selling direct to consumer (DTC). Nobody wants to disrupt their distribution channels.

Online commerce in the automotive aftermarket is growing rapidly and brand owners don’t need to be left out. Learn how to navigate through channel conflict in this informative webinar scheduled for Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at 2:00 pm Eastern/11:00 am Pacific. There is no charge to register or attend.

Join panelists Rick Main of GCommerce, Johannes Crepon of PDM Automotive, Curt McDowell of NA Williams and moderator Jon Hedges of Hedges & Company on this informative webinar. These industry veterans will discuss strategies and business models that maximize sales from online customers without disrupting established channels of distribution.

On the webinar you’ll learn about:

The value and need for shop-able product content and media.
The need for a connected supply chain to deliver infinite aisles and product assortments.
The automation and collaboration needed to ensure fast and accurate eCommerce fulfillment.
Strategies for brands to capture online sales in cooperation with distribution, without channel conflict.

Registered attendees will also be able to submit questions in advance to the panelists to ensure an on-target presentation.

To register for this webinar, follow this link.

eCommerce Order Fulfillment in the Automotive Aftermarket

GCommerce Staff on January 12, 2022

Steve Smith Walks Us Through the Value of the Endless Aisle

My name is Steven Smith and I’m the president, CEO, and board chairman of GCommerce Incorporated. We’ve been in the automotive aftermarket for 21 years and are the EDI connected supply chain solution for the entire North American automotive aftermarket. One of the biggest things that occurred, due to the pandemic, was this entire shift towards e-commerce. This is why it is important to discuss eCommerce order fulfillment in the automotive aftermarket now.

I have been in the industry for 35 years and 20 years ago no one would even be talking about online sales. But during covid, the online channel grew 33% which was an unforeseeable shift in our economy. 10 years from now the online channel will probably be among the largest channels of sales in the entire automotive aftermarket.

How Did The Automotive Aftermarket Trend Continue to Grow Online?

We operate in all segments of the automotive aftermarket, including the heavy-duty market, SEMA, the traditional market, tools and equipment, and PBE. We have nearly 3,000 different companies that connect through GCommerce from Mexico to Canada. We’re seeing that eCommerce trend across every geography and every segment of the automotive aftermarket.

One of the biggest things we’ve done for our clients in the last 21 years is to implement what we call purchasing automation. We are removing paper from the transaction process, which is important for reducing back-office costs and improving efficiency. Along the way, we also saw a need for helping people with their inventory of auto parts and by filling in the gaps in the supply chain, we created The Endless Aisle of Inventory. This seemed like the logical next step for our business and yours.

Automated eCommerce Fulfillment is a Reality

We discovered several things we could help clients and partners with, like shipping and automated eCommerce fulfillment functionality. We would get questions all the time on: How do I fill an online order? And what we discovered was that eCommerce requires Distributors and Manufacturers working together to succeed.

In eCommerce you can only list for sale the product that you know is available. So a distributor is limited to the 300,000 parts they have in stock, for example. But if you combine their inventory with that of their manufacturers’ millions of parts, you are getting closer to boasting an endless automotive aftermarket inventory.

Interesting Stats On Endless Aftermarket Inventories

One very interesting statistic we found on an endless aisle inventory; we saw about a 5% increase in sales transactions and a 21% increase in the average value of the order (AOV). That’s largely because consumers can locate hard-to-find items that may not have shown in a distributor’s inventory before the manufacturer integration.

Also, since more expensive products are more visible and available, things like a diesel injector kit, engine rebuild kits, and other types of parts and components that typically a distributor wouldn’t stock due to size or inventory costs, can now be drop-shipped from the manufacturer. This creates a seamless transaction for an end-user/client while you are working with that distributor to fill the order.

The Future of eCommerce Fulfillment Automation is Here

Where is this headed? The entire automotive aftermarket is collaborating so that they can fill the needs of the brick-and-mortar channel as well as the e-commerce and online channels. Large online marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart want to have a direct relationship with the manufacturer. Three things are critical for this to be a success:

Great Aftermarket Auto Parts Content: People used to scrape product content from websites but now the marketplaces are where the clients go to research and order aftermarket parts online. Manufacturers need to supply content directly to the marketplaces and control their brand image online with fitment date, product images, 360 images and more.
Inventory Visibility: Every available part – millions of SKU – has to be available through a combination of local distributor stock and drop ship fulfillment by manufacturers
Nationwide geo-vending: Manufacturers don’t have 100 distribution centers across the country. But their distributors do. By partnering with distribution and backing them up with eCommerce fulfillment orders can be shipped from the closest geo-location, keeping 2-day shipping costs low.

This is where the puck is going. At GCommerce we provide eCommerce fulfillment solutions for both the brick-and-mortar channel and online automotive aftermarket channel. GCommerce has a connected supply chain for everything from online order management to inventory solutions and an absolute eCommerce order fulfillment software package. By connecting automotive warehouses and distributors to brand owners and retailers we can create an endless aisle for online automotive parts shoppers and alleviate the headaches of the ever-dwindling inventory.

Helping Aftermarket Auto Parts Stores Succeed

Helping online auto parts stores and everyone in the supply chain succeed in the current digital age is our goal. Growth, upgrades in technology, and the improvements in product data make this a very exciting time for the automotive aftermarket.

I’ve been in this industry for 35 years. I grew up around this industry and since I was five years old, there’s no other place I’d rather be than the automotive aftermarket. We aim to support this industry in the best way we know how so we can come out of this pandemic strong.

Change is scary for a lot of companies, so they need to work with someone that they know and trust. GCommerce is a trusted broker that’s been doing business for 21 years. We are a trusted ally of the automotive aftermarket manufacturers, brand owners, distributors, retailers, and buying groups. Everyone who is working with and trading some type of data or eCommerce orders through the GCommerce network knows if they have a problem with eCommerce order fulfillment they need to solve they can contact us at 515-288-5850 and trust us to help bring their vision into focus.

Check Out This Video on Vimeo and Follow Us On Our Vimeo Channel.

Aftermarket Auto Parts Marketplace Revenue Projected to Exceed $18 Billion in 2022

GCommerce Staff on November 3, 2021

GCommerce estimates aftermarket marketplace revenue of auto parts & accessories at $16.6 billion in 2021 and projects 2022 revenue at more than $18 billion.

These numbers are part of a ground-breaking report released by the Auto Care Association and AASA at the 2021 AAPEX Show. GCommerce is proud to have been a contributor to the report.

Marketplaces are driving significant online revenue of parts & accessories

Third-party (3P) marketplaces, including Amazon, Walmart, eBay, NewEgg and others, are projected to grow to $32 billion in automotive parts & accessories revenue by 2030. This a huge jump even for these

3P marketplaces had a huge 31% year-over-year revenue increase in 2020, directly related to the pandemic. This is similar to other industries, as the pandemic shifted millions of consumers to shopping and buying online. During the pandemic many consumers either bought online for the first time or shifted more purchases from brick and mortar to online.

GCommerce is projecting the important 3P sales channel to grow at 7% to 10% per year for the foreseeable future.

Amazon is an important platform for third-party parts & accessory sales, and passed $6 billion in revenue in 2021. An estimated $3.5 billion in 3P revenue came from eBay Motors, followed by Walmart.com, estimated at $2.1 billion.

Total aftermarket online revenue at $34.7 billion in 2021

Total online parts & accessories revenue is estimated at $34.7 billion for 2021, combining 3P marketplace with first-party (1P) revenue from eCommerce retailers (the “.com” websites). Combined 1P and 3P online revenue is projected to have an 8.6% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2025.

The penetration rate of eCommerce, or the share of automotive aftermarket sales made using eCommerce as a buying channel, has doubled since 2018. The report says that it has grown from 6.5% to 12.1% in 2021. Even with that adoption rate, and even the recent dramatic growth rate, the aftermarket has a lot of room to catch up to other industries, where the eCommerce adoption rate is much higher.

Everyone now has a digital transformation playbook. What was a planning horizon of years is now months.

David Spitz, CEO, ChannelAdvisor Tweet

An important takeaway from the Auto Care Association/AASA report is the need to develop an eCommerce market strategy. The report states, “As the online channel continues to grow and take share from traditional brick & mortar participants it will become increasingly important for legacy aftermarket players to adapt their market strategy and develop an eCommerce playbook.“

The report also identifies the eCommerce channel as, “…one of the fastest growing segments of the automotive aftermarket.”

Takeaways for aftermarket companies

As we see it, there are two significant takeaways for manufacturers, distributors and marketplaces in the aftermarket.

One, if you still don’t have an effective digital transformation strategy, now is certainly the time. Even if you have one it needs to be revisited from time to time to stay on track. With the expected growth in the aftermarket auto parts marketplace channel

Two, if you need an efficient way to sell products online and gain exposure for your brand, GCommerce makes that a simple process. We can help facilitate drop shipping, EDI transmission of inventory levels, sending product data up and down the supply chain, and more. If you need a trusted partner to leverage eCommerce and 3P marketplaces, please give us a call. We’d be happy to discuss your eCommerce plans and give solid recommendations to increase your 2022 revenue.

Aftermarket eCommerce report

Auto Care Association and AASA released this new eCommerce report at the AAPEX Show on November 3, 2021. GCommerce partnered with Jefferies and Hedges & Company to produce these 3P projections as well as first-party (1P) revenue from eCommerce retailers (“.coms”). This valuable report is available to the general public as a 19-page Executive Summary, and to Auto Care Association/AASA members as a 33-page detailed report.