Truck Parts and Service | Heavy Duty Trucking, Aftermarket, Service Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/795141
22 Sales & Marketing larger, more comprehensive look at on- line buying later this year. "Through our initial survey, we have just scratched the surface of the online heavy-duty parts buying topics and issues," says John Blodgett, vice presi- dent sales and marketing at MacKay & Company. If that deeper dive into the habits of online buyers produces the expected outlook, distributors will get to see where they stand in an ever-changing marketplace. What they are likely to fi nd is that e-commerce is a much needed if not must-have tool in today's market. With a major shift in the demograph- ics of buyers, e-commerce opens new opportunities to customers looking to buy online. "As we all know, the demographic of the end user is changing," says Jeff Paul, director of marketing for VIPAR Heavy Duty. "There's a younger generation that doesn't do business the old way. They want to use e-commerce as their primary source of doing business." E-commerce can be an effi cient way of doing business. Distributors, suppli- ers and end users are all able to access products in a reliable, straight-forward format that cuts out a great deal of the confusion about product availability and product information, if the website is done correctly. VIPAR Heavy Duty launched VIProParts.com in 2015 as a way to help end users purchase heavy-duty truck parts. The website is a full-featured online store where end users can fi nd the industry's leading brands of aftermar- ket products, which are then delivered through the VIPAR Heavy Duty network of participating distributors. Paul says the organization recognized a shift in the buying habits of some truck parts purchasers and wanted to fi nd a way to connect customers with the group's distributors. "One of the main reasons we launched VIProParts.com was to make sure that our distributors could connect with the customers," he says. "We designed the site with product search capabilities to enable buyers to shop and purchase parts easily when it best suits them." When visitors enter VIProParts.com, they are prompted to select a local par- ticipating distributor to fulfi ll their order. Specifi c catalog information for that dis- tributor is displayed to end users, as well as location and technical support contact information providing the expertise of a local parts specialist when needed. The order, payment and delivery are then ful- fi lled through that local distributor with multiple shipping and delivery options. "Local expertise plays an important role in the aftermarket industry," Paul says. "People feel comfortable shopping in the areas they know. Through this site, the orders are fi lled by local distributors. This is similar to the way Amazon works as far as having the orders fi lled through different distributors." Paul says the site has been a learning process over the past couple of years, but it's a good source of connecting distribu- tors and customers. Bill Burns, chief operating offi cer of HDA Truck Pride, said his organization uses an online library of all the images of the products that their vendors offer. Burns says there is a "big monster out there called Amazon" and distributors have to be prepared to offer the accessi- bility that sources like that offer. "We have to be able to assist our members," he said. There is an ongoing initiative aimed at helping HDA Truck Pride members with an e-commerce platform, Burns said. T R U C K P A R T S & S E R V I C E | M a r c h 2 0 1 7 ConMet demonstrated its new mobile app during Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week in Las Vegas in January. There's a younger generation that doesn't do business the old way. They want to use e-commerce as their primary source of doing business. – Jeff Paul, director of marketing for VIPAR Heavy Duty