I'm always looking for ways to help more manufacturers grow their businesses, and I’ve read a few interesting articles on current trends in the Automotive Aftermarket Industry that made me stop and think about their marketplace opportunities. According to Hedges & Company — a highly regarded market research company serving the automotive aftermarket and motorsports industries — new data on consumers’ auto parts buying behavior shows some big market changes.
Hedges research also finds that the internet has not only opened the door for aftermarket parts and accessories manufacturers to sell directly, that is exactly what buyers increasingly want, i.e., going to manufacturer and brand websites as part of their parts shopping process.
The manufacturer of aftermarket parts and accessories faces challenges: modernizing to adapt to the next generation (digital/mobile), the speed of change and demand, and the growing complexity of parts and parts configurations. The opportunities are to integrate sales channels (traditional/online), to adopt new technologies and gain better insight into customers, and to improve supply chain efficiencies for quick and accurate order fulfillment.
At $6 Billion annually just a year ago, online sales are expected to reach $16.6 Billion by the end of this decade.
One final observation — less than one half of aftermarket manufacturers can process online orders from service center chains or independent shops and fewer than 1% sell direct. That’s a big mismatch between manufacturers and industry trends.
I’ve also thought that these trends may present an even greater opportunity for professional enterprise resource planning (ERP) and technology experts who sell, implement and customize software.
Sources: Hedges & Company (https://hedgescompany.com), Albi Dhimitri, U.S. Automotive Aftermarket Industry Report.
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"xTuple" (verb) — to grow; to increase exponentially. Our mission is to help manufacturing and inventory-centric companies use management software and best practices to grow their business profitably.