If you want to have success selling parts to consumers online, the most important thing you can do is invest in Search Engine Marketing (SEM). Why? It’s pretty simple: If customers don’t know how to find your website, they can’t buy parts from you online.

Investing in SEM ensures you have a steady stream of potential customers visiting your website and viewing parts they are interested in purchasing – and often.

It’s critical that you invest your money the right way. We have an analogy we like to use to describe the two different options for spending your advertising dollars: fishing with bait vs. casting a large net. We recommend fishing with bait. Here’s why…

 Casting a large net may not catch the fish you want
We see a lot of online retail solutions use this strategy. By casting a large net, you’re putting your site in front of many potential customers. Unfortunately you also end up spending a lot of money to drive visitors to the site without the intent to purchase a part. Money spent without much discretion over what parts are being advertised, what buyers are being targeted, what ‘qualified’ buyers are being targeted, and what regions are in play creates a problem.

The money is spent to direct traffic, but is it the right traffic? Many times the answer is no. That’s why we recommend fishing with bait.

Fishing with bait to catch the right fish

By fishing with bait, your advertising dollars (SEM budget) are spent showcasing the right parts to the right potential customers. It’s important to not waste your advertising budget on parts that don’t rank well in online searches (to learn more about online search rankings, click here). You don’t want to spend your money to compete against parts you won’t be able to rank above. For example, the aftermarket dominates break pad sales and they spend a lot of money to have their parts rank highly on search engines. They are willing to pay high fees every time a potential customer searches and clicks on their advertisement for brake pads in Google, Bing, or other search engines*. Trying to compete with the large box stores to capture break pad sales would be very expensive with very little opportunity for profitability. Your money would be better spent on targeting parts that customers typically purchase from dealers or prefer to utilize OE instead of aftermarket.

It’s important to focus on Return On Ad Spend, or ROAS. Higher ROAS means you’re getting more bang for your buck.

This is usually displayed or discussed as a ratio. For example, a ROAS of $5/$1 indicates for every $1 you spend on advertising, you get $5 in return. You don’t want to be in a situation where you’re spending thousands of dollars and only seeing a ROAS of $1/$1 — or even lower.

Here are some real examples of how dealers are performing with ConsumerLink Pro. Note the ROAS– This is what fishing with bait can do for marketing dollars.

*Search Engine Marketing campaigns are typically based on pay-per-click fees that vary depending on the competition of the search terms a potential customer enters, the time of day searched, the region in which the search occurred, etc. The more competitive the search term the higher pay-per-click fee is assessed to the seller.

If you do ecommerce (aka selling direct to consumers) right, you can create a substantial revenue stream for your dealership and opens up your parts department to a completely new set of customers. However, this sort of success is not just given, it takes some strategy. So, what do our top-performing dealers do to separate themselves? Read on.

Invest in SEM (Search Engine Marketing)

At a high level, Search Engine Marketing means spending money to get your page or products found on search engines. It is the most important step to have success selling parts online. It’s easy to explain why. Customers need to be able to find your site. Without SEM, they won’t know how to get there. You may be open for business but no one will know how to find you among the thousands of other sites selling parts online.

If you want to get consumers to your site, you need to map out how – and this is what a Search Engine Marketing plan will do for you.

Here is an example of how SEM works in the real world. This dealership was selling online for 12 months without much success. They had a total of 6 orders in 12 months. Not good. They decided to try out an SEM strategy and immediately their sales took off. In just two months after paying for marketing they had 192 order.

To learn more about SEM and SEO, click here.

Adjust your prices and shipping monthly

Making adjustments based on market trends is a key factor for success with ecommerce. You should always think about how your pricing and shipping rates affect your sales and make adjustments accordingly. A part at a certain price might not be selling well anymore, and you have to adjust your pricing down. Or maybe that part is doing really well in a particular area of the country and you can raise your prices a bit there.

You’ll have to stay on top of accurately pricing your shipping. Size can be deceiving; some small parts are light and easy to ship but other small parts can be heavy and expensive to ship. You could be making a mistake if you’re charging the same shipping rate for those items. On the other hand, you could also utilize USPS… (see below)

Utilize USPS

You may be used to shipping with FedEx and UPS, but that doesn’t mean they’re always the best options. USPS is often the cheapest and best option for ecommerce orders. Many parts fit into Priority Flat Rate boxes, so “if it fits, it ships.” If the part you’re shipping fits into the USPS Priority Flat rate box, it will ship (up to 70 lbs). Another great thing about USPS? The boxes themselves are completely free. You can even have boxes dropped off at your dealership for free or simply pick them up at any post office location.

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes

Think about any time you order something online. What’s important to you? Generally speaking, it’s likely around customer service, fair pricing and quick/affordable shipping options. It’s no different for customers ordering your parts. When you’re pricing parts and creating shipping options to consumers, just put yourself in their shoes to make sure it’s fair.

Avoid the classic “parts hold” line when answering the phone. We know how busy it can get in your parts department, we completely understand. But you know your customers are busy too and you need to respect their time. Building loyalty and trustworthiness is important. Treat every phone call generated from the site as a potential sale or upsell opportunity.

Always have a backup

Most parts departments have their go-to person who processes ecommerce orders. Great! But what happens when that person goes on vacation? Far too many dealerships lose out on thousands of dollars simply because they don’t have someone to process ecommerce orders.

Stay Involved and Dedicated

We find that the most successful dealers are simply more involved with the process of selling parts online. They follow these best practices and the so consistently. Sometimes dealers decide to sell parts online just because it sounds like a good idea.

Well, it is a good idea, but it takes more than that to have success. The more you care about the process, the more you are invested in the success of your online storefront, the more you will get out of it. This is becoming a competitive space, but those who consistently take the right steps, like the ones listed above, will be the ones who succeed.