Why are main dealers here so bad at internet sales for parts?

Atlantic Dawn

Why are main dealers so bad at taking internet sales for parts in this country? There's only a handfull that offer any kind of online shop to order original genuine parts from. In the UK all major brands have a good number of dealers offering full online ship with delivery of pretty much every part for every car. I've regularly ordered from the UK for parts, seems a real missed opportunity for dealers here.

ironclaw

I'm guessing admin cost and the fact the market is saturated in motor factors who can get the part for you anyway. Also, you need a market that is willing to buy manufacturer parts and the premium that it usuals entails.

Speaking from a technical side, the implementation of such a website is not trivial. Searching for a part number is fine, but when you get the more tricky searches e.g. An ABC Series from Year X with the 1.9 Engine, that catalog modelling is not easy to do and would be expensive to implement for a consumer basis.

grogi

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Why are main dealers so bad at taking internet sales for parts in this country? There's only a handfull that offer any kind of online shop to order original genuine parts from. In the UK all major brands have a good number of dealers offering full online ship with delivery of pretty much every part for every car. I've regularly ordered from the UK for parts, seems a real missed opportunity for dealers here.

For the same reason any e-commerce does not exist in Ireland (compared to other places).

Small market, high warehouse costs (supply chain is complex and slow with the sea all around), labour costs and high shipping costs.

mickdw

I think by creating an online sales outlet for car parts, they would be making available their entire parts system free of charge to the public making it even easier for people to pull part numbers from their system and order elsewhere.
To be honest, I find my local dealer good in terms of parts sales. We can usual work out the party needed over the phone. If there is any confusion, they will email a screen capture from their system.
They also offer free delivery one day per week via their trade sales van.

GrumpyMe

mickdw wrote: »

I think by creating an online sales outlet for car parts, they would be making available their entire parts system free of charge to the public making it even easier for people to pull part numbers from their system and order elsewhere.

Looks like they'd have to compete on price at that stage!;)

mickdw

Ya exactly but you cannot expect them to compete with cheaper brands and making all their info available would only make it easier for people to buy other parts.

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

Genuine parts won't be any cheaper online. If you actually go to the dealer for parts you can nearly always get a good discount too.

Atlantic Dawn

grogi wrote: »

For the same reason any e-commerce does not exist in Ireland (compared to other places).

Small market, high warehouse costs (supply chain is complex and slow with the sea all around), labour costs and high shipping costs.

Micks Garage seems to be doing grand online, ships overseas too.

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly wrote: »

Genuine parts won't be any cheaper online. If you actually go to the dealer for parts you can nearly always get a good discount too.

Yes pricing isn't really a major issues, more the sourcing of genuine parts which for the most part are not available from anywhere but main dealers where you might have to spend an afternoon driving to rather than if you could just order online and have delivered next day.

Duke O Smiley

Most people I know seem to think that main dealers only want to rob them when it comes to buying any part from them.

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

^^^ I've always been well treated and given discounts by main dealers. VW and BMW.

Skatedude

The main dealers dont even open the parts department on weekends, never mind online sales if they are that far behind the times

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

Where I go parts department is open 9am until 1pm on Saturdays

Toyotafanboi

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly wrote: »

Where I go parts department is open 9am until 1pm on Saturdays

Yeah, most do 9-1 Saturdays which is enough for the hobbyist imo.

Eric Cartman

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly wrote: »

^^^ I've always been well treated and given discounts by main dealers. VW and BMW.

+1

for my e38 rebuild , JKC bmw in coleraine came in about 3-400 cheaper in total for genuine new bmw parts vs ebay / motor factors spurious.

bladespin

grogi wrote:

For the same reason any e-commerce does not exist in Ireland (compared to other places).

grogi wrote:

Small market, high warehouse costs (supply chain is complex and slow with the sea all around), labour costs and high shipping costs.

That's a cop out, there are plenty of successful ecommerce sites here.

grogi

bladespin wrote: »

That's a cop out, there are plenty of successful ecommerce sites here.

I know there are a few - especially in market niches or associated with already established brands.

But name an Irish power-tools site or even PC component shop... Sure they exist, but usually charge ridiculous premiums for limited selection.

mickdw wrote: »

I think by creating an online sales outlet for car parts, they would be making available their entire parts system free of charge to the public making it even easier for people to pull part numbers from their system and order elsewhere.
To be honest, I find my local dealer good in terms of parts sales. We can usual work out the party needed over the phone. If there is any confusion, they will email a screen capture from their system.
They also offer free delivery one day per week via their trade sales van.

Never had issues finding the parts catalogue and codes for the parts I need somewhere online. For a Fiat, Skoda, Toyota and Citroen.

Walter2016

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Micks Garage seems to be doing grand online, ships overseas too.


.

The investment in Micks garage is in the millions. - €5m funding round last year.

They also had losses for their first 3 years and it was 5 years before they were warehousing most of the stock themselves.

They succeed because they specialise online and carry a massive amount of stock.

The market just isn't there for loads of online operators as the cost of operating online is quite high despite what some people think.

bladespin

grogi wrote: »

But name an Irish power-tools site or even PC component shop... Sure they exist, but usually charge ridiculous premiums for limited selection.

It can be done, just because the will isn't there doesn't mean it's impossible.

Walter2016 wrote: »

They succeed because they specialise online and carry a massive amount of stock.

So they succeed by being good at what they do?

grogi wrote: »

The market just isn't there for loads of online operators as the cost of operating online is quite high despite what some people think.

To distribute properly (online or bricks and mortar takes serious investment of time and money, tbh I agree about the market, the majority of parts buyers still prefer 'traditional' shops, experience, advice etc etc.

kirving

I had to buy an obscure part a few moths ago, the passenger seat lumbar support mechanism.

Volvo main dealer in Athlone didn't have it in stock, but had it from the UK the following day. To be honest I was expecting a week minimum.

Very reasonably priced too, and were able to give me a full diagram of the inside of the seat with all the part codes listed. Used mainly to identify what was what, but extremely useful for me when tackling a very tricky job.

For anything like that, main dealer is the only way to go.

Guy:Incognito

Kevin Irving wrote: »

I had to buy an obscure part a few moths ago, the passenger seat lumbar support mechanism.

Volvo main dealer in Athlone didn't have it in stock, but had it from the UK the following day. To be honest I was expecting a week minimum.

Very reasonably priced too, and were able to give me a full diagram of the inside of the seat with all the part codes listed. Used mainly to identify what was what, but extremely useful for me when tackling a very tricky job.

For anything like that, main dealer is the only way to go.

The aftermarket is never going to do stuff like that anyway. Theres no money to be made investing in making bits like that for the handfull that will ever sell , especially when theres a manufacturer thats already churned out a few hundred thousand of them.

millington

Ireland just isn't really a big enough market to spend that much time and money setting up an eCommerce site that complicated and varied.

The other thing is Irish main dealers love keeping all sorts of prices a well guarded secret. Probably to stop the "trade" guys from going online, getting the price, then ringing for the part and expecting magical discount anyway.

Musketeer4

Main dealer genuine parts really only are for two purposes - 1) warranty repairs on new vehicles and 2) obscure/rarely failing parts not available from other suppliers.

Very few people will get the manufacturers branded parts because they are usually much more expensive. But you do have motoring "purists" who are all about the brand and will spend more money for the sake of purity. Idiots.

Most motor factor parts are of good quality if you choose the established brands and some of those parts makers are also supplying the manufacturers with their original parts anyway. So all you are paying for is a VW or Ford box that the part comes in .