How To Develop An Online Store For Selling Auto Parts

Last Updated on September 8, 2022

It has been seen that people and companies have chosen a wider platform to enhance their business activities by actively participating in the online platform. The development of an eCommerce store also stands in its part to grab the attention of customers at a larger angle.

What Is An Auto Parts eCommerce store?

Auto Parts eCommerce store or the automotive parts ecommerce website brings in customers and gives them the information about automotive information, selling them a wider capacity in the online platform. It makes it easy and comfortable for both the customers and the sellers to purchase and sell the product within a few seconds, even in remote areas.

Current Market Demand In Autoparts Industry

The sales of automobiles globally had fallen under 64 million units in 2020, down from a peak of almost 80 million units in 2017. The automotive market is surrounded by most commercial vehicles and passenger cars. The pandemic has also influenced a shortage of semiconductors and chips in the automotive sector. Today, the Ford Motor Company still ranks as the leading manufacturers of passenger cars and also 2019’s best-selling vehicles worldwide. Moreover, the leading global automotive supplier based on revenue in its 2019 fiscal year, Bosch was ranked as the world’s largest automotive supplier in 2019.  In 2019, almost 92 million motor vehicles were produced all around the world. This figure witnesses a decline of 5 percent, in comparison with the previous year. China, Japan, and Germany were the largest in producing cars and commercial vehicles in 2019.

U.S. eCommerce Value Of Motor Vehicles & Automotive Equipment Wholesale Trade Sales from 2007 to 2018

The world’s largest automobile market that is China’s automobile market is enormous. In the United States, usually, there is an excess of 800 motor vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants. Leading brands and manufacturers in 2019 such as Toyota was ranked as the highest brand value. Whereas the Japanese multinational carmaker is the second worldwide. Recently, India has also emerged as an important automotive market but the 2019 sales figures did not witness profits amidst a weakened economy. At the same time, the European Union made an unexpected comeback, with over 15 million new car registrations in 2019 and growing rapidly day by day.

Types Of Automotive eCommerce Websites

B2C Autoparts eCommerce Portal

It is the type of automotive commerce website that helps you with some specific business needs according to the suitability with good performance in handling large orders at a time. It helps with the building of custom prices, discounts, catalogs of various vehicles and auto parts, and refined payment methods with the inclusion of shipping solutions and customizations.

B2B Autoparts eCommerce Website

This type of website usually surrounds itself with solutions for automotive business needs and future scaling. Product specification, advanced navigation techniques, speed optimization, with the simplified checkout process and good interpretation of analytics data with systematic buyers protection

Types of Autoparts You Want To Sell

Selling auto parts online requires you to decide what type of auto-parts you want to sell. Usually, there are three types of auto parts: OEM, OES, and aftermarket parts.

OEM – Original Equipment Manufacturer

These auto parts are usually manufactured by the company, assemble the model according to the company’s requirement. The autoparts that are originally used by the company and produced by them themselves and are known as OEM parts.

OES – Original Equipment Supplier

To produce specifications and productivity companies usually hire other automobile companies to produce auto parts and replace them with the OEM parts while repairing, which are therefore called OES parts.

Aftermarket Autoparts (Other Brands)

These types of autoparts are usually referred to as alternatives. This is because they serve as an alternative to the original part if the original parts are somewhat difficult to find. The parts from the aftermarket would be of another brand but would be the same as the original parts.

Other Monetization Opportunities For An Autoparts eCommerce Store

Featured Listings

A featured listing usually refers to promoting or putting an auto part at a popular sport for some time. The listings allow the feature of the auto parts with specific categorization in the automotive e-commerce store.

Advertisement Selling

Advertisement selling usually refers to promoting autoparts of an ecommerce store through various advertisements to create awareness about the autoparts or products.

Garage Integration

Garage integration stands for “Listing various workshops and garages within the autoparts ecommerce portal so that customers can locate nearby garages and book services. This feature will benefits both garages and customers as workshop owners will get more jobs and customers can book services online.

Popular Autoparts eCommerce Websites

The automotive parts ecommerce website serves as the opportunity to allow sellers and customers to interact at the virtual platform for the purchase and sale of autoparts and greet them with detailed information of the autoparts. Some of the top ecommerce auto part websites are defined below.

Carid.com

CARiD.com is one of the most systematic and structured sites which makes shopping easy for the customers wishing to buy accessories and autoparts having a perfect categorization of products and useful illustrations of it.

Autozone.com

AutoZone is such a website that provides you as the main source for autoparts and accessories. It provides consultations and advice regarding the purchasing of products to the customer.

Advanceautoparts.com

The provision and source of quality auto parts and accessories are all in a website known as the advance autoparts websites performing multiple tasks with advising the customers.

Napaonline.com

Napa online usually provides the access to world’s largest ready-to-ship aftermarket parts, accessories, tools, and equipment providing beneficence to large automotive industries.

Carparts.com

Carparts.com is an aftermarket auto parts provider in America which also includes engine, collision, accessories, and performance parts, including collision parts, engine parts, and performance parts.

General Features Of Autoparts Online Store

There are certain features an automotive parts ecommerce website should hold-

Social Login & Signup
In an automotive ecommerce website, the buyers usually need to fill in their information and some basic details known as the “sign up” process, whereas the login feature denotes that the buyer’s profile has been made and that by logging in he can order the desired autopart or accessories.

Refine Search & Filters
The refine search and filters is another feature that helps the users to navigate the autoparts store and significantly increases conversion. It also helps in narrowing the results further for the customers making it easier for them to select and purchase the autopart. The customers can refine their searches based on customization on the brand, category of the autoparts.

Auto Parts Finder (Year/Make/Model Lookup)
The autoparts finder is a feature that directly helps you search for the specific autoparts you wish for and similar options available in the ecommerce website of autoparts. This makes it easier for the customer to search results for a particular vehicle and narrows down several autoparts and suggests those that fit the customer’s vehicle.

Wheel Search
This feature helps the customer to specify the sizing of wheels for his particular vehicle with both upsizing and downsizing options.

Tires Search
This feature is also similar to the wheels search feature as it helps the customer to specify the sizing of tires concerning the vehicles with both upsizing and downsizing options.

Verify Fitment
Sometimes the customers may not have a pre-selected vehicle saved in the garage. This is when the verify fitment feature works as it allows users to check if the item is compatible with the desired vehicle or not before ordering it.

Fitment Compatibility Table
This is the feature where a table or listing with data on vehicle fitment is placed for the perfect description on the product page helping customers to be sure of their purchase.

Recommendations
Recommendations usually convince people to buy more. So this feature generates some product or autopart recommendations to increase the order value by the customers giving them validation.

Informative Product page – Auto Part Details
The product page should be nothing less than being informative. It should have detailed information about the autoparts and accessories available in the ecommerce store. The product page should contain a list of products and when a customer clicks on a certain product then, a piece of whole information should be presented to him. This helps the customer with all necessary information and helps him order the product precisely.

Discounted Prices for Garages & Bulk Buyers
Discounted prices for bulk buyers help the sellers to earn profits by enabling the customers to order autoparts at a discounted range of price and letting them order in large bulk or units.

Shipping Calculation
This helps the customer automatically calculate the price and total cost of the product or autoparts including shipping costs with precise shipping information.

Domestic & International Payment Gateway
After the order has been added to the cart or the garage, during the time of transaction there is the feature of efficient payment and checkout pages that helps customers to purchase the product and immediately have a payment confirmation on them. There are also customized modules for domestic and international payment gateways to speed up the transaction process with more options to pay.

Upsell & Cross-Sell
Cross-selling is the feature where the customers are offered compliments or supplements about the purchases they’ve already made. Upselling is the feature that occurs where there is an increase in a customer’s value by encouraging them to add on services or purchase a more expensive model.

Reports & Analytics
The reports and analytics is the feature of the ecommerce store which allows the company to understand the trends and the shifts in the customer’s purchasing behavior.  Reporting & Analytics tools help to gain a detailed report about the record of sales and purchases eCommerce site.

Informative blogs
An informative blog on the website of an automotive ecommerce store helps to gain insight about the store and its specializations to the customers. The informative blogs help provide detailed information about certain subject matter and products that serve as an add-on to a rich amount of sales and are a fundamental feature in successful web marketing and utilized by most ecommerce stores.

Advanced Features Of Online Autoparts Store

There are also some Advanced Features in an autoparts ecommerce store

ChatBot Integration
E-Commerce chatbots serves as a powerful helping hand to ecommerce sellers. Using intelligent prompts and message-replies, they engage customers as well as passive visitors to solve their queries and questions related to a particular product just by chatting on the ecommerce website store.

Smart Search Integration
The Smart Chart integration is a feature that allows the provision of perfect labeling of products with relevance to charts reducing confusion and making it easier for the buyers to easily search their desired products.

Multi Channel Integration

ERP Integration
This multi-channel integration process serves as the foundation to run an automotive ecommerce business. It helps in managing items that the sellers wish to sell with customer-specific pricing, managing inventory, and availability in sales and order processing.

CRM Integration
This multi-channel integration process helps in providing an understanding of channel management as it helps translate value-adding interactions with customers, with pre-sales communication, sales interaction, post-sale service, and support with the customer.

POS Integration
POS integration a multi-channel feature that is a streamlined connection between a POS software and an autoparts accounting and operations platform which can pull detailed data directly in real-time.

RMA Reporting and Flow
A return merchandise authorization (RMA), is a multi-channel integration feature that deals in returning an autoparts after it has been purchased due to some difficulty or other reasons. It helps the customers to receive a refund, replacement, or repair during the auto parts warranty period.

Characteristics Of A Successful Online Autopart eCommerce Store

Fast Shipping
An online autopart store has the provision of fast shipping in regards to details such as zip code which helps decide whether fast shipping is available or not. Generally, fast shipping serves as a great factor in the sales of autoparts.

Friendly Return Policy
This is another aspect where an autopart ecommerce store should have a friendly return policy and refunds without any complications and to avoid complaints by the clients. The return policy should always be less complex, transparent, and accurate as much as possible in automotive ecommerce stores.

Security Provisioning
Secure Device Provisioning is a characteristic that ensures secrets regarding autoparts or other products purchased by the customer which cannot be exposed or manipulated. The security provision also implies secured manufacturing with innovative code protection and Whitebox technology where the secrets remain protected for the rest of the device’s use and disposal.

Super Fast Load Speeds
Super Fast Load Speeds helps in using the latest technology with definite website standards, that allow the customers to find their specific parts and witness a fast checkout.

Mobile Responsive
The ecommerce sites of autoparts should be mobile responsive. They should have a percent designed mobile site so that it becomes easier for the customers to shop directly from their smartphones or androids.

Product Photographs
Usually, in an ecommerce store of autoparts the customers would like to see the products before they buy. Therefore a perfect professional photograph of the autopart will influence the customer in accessing the auto parts store online and buying it.

Approaches To Develop An Autopart eCommerce Store

Develop from the Scratch
An autopart ecommerce store developed from scratch is usually custom based and designed with a hand-coded website. So developing a website from scratch means that the site is constructed as per the clients’ needs, and their specific business requirements for autopart store.

Self-hosted Store Using Opensource ecommerce platform
A self-hosted store using an opensource ecommerce platform helps acquire and install into the server of choice of the company such that the company manages and runs the resultant tools. This usually helps in unlimited flexibility in the hands of the company regarding website handling especially considering, as it is an open-source system.

Hosted eCommerce platform
A hosted ecommerce platform is a type of software that services and acts as a host to online stores. These kinds of hosted platforms offer convenience, with an ideal autoparts ecommerce development experience.

Just google about “what is a hosted ecommerce platform” OR we will give you the understanding.

Team Structure Required To Develop An Autoparts eCommerce Store

To develop an autoparts software or ecommerce portal one needs a set team that is structured and aids in the development of the specific autopart ecommerce website store. For that, we should clearly define the business needs by hiring the right kind of people who would be fir for developing a website. Then we should design an efficient boarding process and give a definite explanation about the workflow of the employees. Then we should define roles in executive management and stress on efficient products management to build a perfect autoparts ecommerce store. From the structure of executives and assisting people for certain tasks such as handling payments and orders, keeping records of payments, etc the team structure is necessary for a better autoparts ecommerce store.

• Project Manager
• Backend Developers
• Front-End Developer
• Data Specialists

How Much Does It Cost To Develop An Autoparts eCommerce Store?

Usually, eCommerce website development prices can range from $10,000 to $500,000 or more which relates to the complexity of autopart stores, the platform selection such as Shopify, WordPress, Magento, etc. For many sellers and business companies of autoparts selling over the internet can be alluring and complex at the same time. However, ecommerce stores carry their own set of complications so success and profits will rely on the right combination of tools and strategies used for development. But nowadays starting an online store to sell automotive parts is very less expensive. Companies can set up ecommerce stores or develop them with the provision of a free ecommerce website in a matter of hours. eCommerce software, such as X-Cart, gives an easy development of websites with just selecting a template designed for autoparts with active support, with provisions for only one-time licensing fees.