Fixed Ops Journal - August 2017 - 34

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

VIDEO: Lessons
from online parts
ventures:
autonews.com/
morsevideo
Ed Morse Delray Toyota in
Florida operates a dedicated
website for parts sales with
monthly revenue of more than
$20,000. Below, the website's
banner.

URSULA ZERILLI

PARTS
CYBERCOUNTER
High-volume dealerships mute their identities for online sales



URSULA ZERILLI
uzerilli@crain.com

ric Silcox wanted to attract parts
buyers who don't "necessarily want
to deal with a dealership."
So two years ago, the fixed operations director of Ed Morse Delray Toyota in
Delray Beach, Fla., launched a website just for
the dealership's stockroom.
Instead of using the dealership's traditional
website branding, Silcox opted for a generic
homepage banner and an inconspicuous web
address: thetoyotapartsdepot.com.
Visitors can order parts from a catalog by a
vehicle's year, make and model, and can buy
factory or aftermarket parts through the online payments system PayPal.
This year, Silcox says, the site's sales have surpassed $20,000 a month. Online contacts also
lead to wholesale and over-the-counter parts
purchases from the dealership, he adds.
The website's domain name helps to reach
parts buyers who might otherwise avoid franchised dealerships, such as small-business
owners or do-it-yourself mechanics, Silcox says.
"They think the pricing wouldn't be competitive or that we wouldn't want to be competitive," Silcox told Fixed Ops Journal.
Several technology vendors, including SimplePart, TradeMotion, PartSites, OEConnection and RevolutionParts, help dealerships
build, market and maintain parts websites
and can automate some sales processes.
Cole Getzler is CEO of SimplePart, which

PAGE 34

AUGUST 2017

cheap prices. Because there's a steady stream
works with dealerships and automakers to sell
of newcomers, he adds, the online marketparts online. Getzler says his Atlanta company
place is increasingly competitive.
has about 1,000 dealer clients who operate
SimplePart constantly fine-tunes its marketwebsites - separate from the dealership's
ing strategy to ensure that its clients' parts inhomepage - just for parts sales.
ventories are visible on Internet search
SimplePart charges dealerships $300
engines such as Google and Bing.
a month, plus a one-time $100 setup
"A long time ago, to sell online you
fee for its base plan. Advertising serhad to go where visitors are - which
vices cost $450 a month for advertising
meant you had to be on eBay, mostand a $300 setup fee. A dealer who
ly," Getzler says. "You had to be part
wants to "maximize sales," Getzler says,
of the marketplace to sell.
will pay SimplePart 10 percent of its
"Today, the average person has a
gross parts sales and a $750 setup fee.
mobile device that they will speak to
"In any brand, you'll find five to 10
or shout at or wave their arms at or
[dealer] heavyweights that have ei- Getzler: Sell on
type an inquiry into," he says. "Which
ther been there for a long time or have search engines
means that the place where your cusvery recently bought their way in,"
tomer is, is different."
says Getzler, who founded SimplePart in 2007.
For Ed Morse Delray Toyota, showing up in
"Those five or 10 dealers for that given brand
search engine results made a difference. The
are selling 75 to 90 percent of what all dealers
dealership's parts website didn't generate
of that brand are selling."
Getzler says dealers who are new to selling
parts online often aim for big-volume sales at
see ONLINE, Page 35

http://www.autonews.com/morsevideo http://www.autonews.com/morsevideo http://www.thetoyotapartsdepot.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fixed Ops Journal - August 2017