Truck Parts eCommerce is showing no signs of slowing down and if you’re also looking to sell truck parts online then now is the right time to get started. As per a McKinsey market survey, the auto parts and accessories sales industry is expected to continuously see a growth rate of 3% per annum until 2030.
So the question here is, are you ready to take your truck parts business online?
If your answer is yes, you’re definitely going to need to understand how to sell truck parts online. And this comprehensive guide will help you prepare your business for online sales.
1. How To Get Started
Getting started is probably the toughest part when it comes to building a business online. There are several things that you need to be clear about before you start selling truck parts on the internet. And what are they, let’s have a look.
1. Choosing the best eCommerce platform for selling Truck Parts
The Internet is filled with tons of eCommerce stores that want you to sell your auto parts on their platform. eCommerce websites alone sell 70% of all car and truck parts in the US. But most of them fail to attract a good amount of sales. Amazon and eBay are two giant platforms that are most popular and have been helping millions of people in making their businesses relevant on the internet.
Let’s take a look at the best eCommerce platform options for selling truck parts online.
Amazon
Amazon.com is the top-ranked eCommerce store worldwide. It opens door to a very large audience for small businesses. Speaking about the sales of auto parts in this store, it’s growing at a rapid rate of 15% per annum. Therefore, it wouldn’t be wrong to consider Amazon for selling your truck parts online.
If you want to start selling on Amazon, here are the requirements that you need to meet after applying as a seller to start selling on Amazon.
- Must purchase a professional selling plan
- Must have docile pictures of the products
- Must have reviewed Automotive and Powersports Part Finder and Fitment Data page
- Must list all the primary brands with UPCs
- Must warrant all the refurbished, certified Automotive & Powersports products with manufacturer or remanufacturer.
eBay
eBay is only second to Amazon in welcoming unique visitors. It has been selling truck parts for so many years now that buyers already trust it wholeheartedly.
The reason behind the immense success of truck parts sellers on Amazon and eBay is that they both offer specific sections for automotive eCommerce making the shopping experience much easier for both sellers and buyers.
The benefit of selling on eBay is that you don’t need a lot of time to put your truck parts up for sale. It’s just like selling any other shopping product. It’s because eBay already has a huge catalog for truck parts and accessories. So all you have to do is list your truck parts using ePID or MPN and the software itself will automatically fill the following:
- Title of the product
- Description and specification
- Category
- Images of the product
- Weight and Dimensions
- Fitment data
Note- eBay will prefill all these for you only if the product you’re selling is already available in its catalog.
Your own eCommerce shop
The eCommerce shops like Amazon and eBay come with a fee on each sale or a monthly plan. But with your own eCommerce shop, you get 100% of what a customer pays for your products. The only downfall with your own eCommerce shop is that you don’t get access to millions of people looking to purchase auto parts and accessories from the very first day.
You have to work on your truck parts eCommerce shop on a regular basis to make its presence relevant on the internet. And once you achieve a decent amount of popularity, your own eCommerce shop can do wonders for you that Amazon and eBay will never be able to do.
Most of the businesses that sell online sell on all three eCommerce platforms given above. The main purpose is to get customers, doesn’t matter where you get it. Therefore, you can also try combining the three choices and list your truck parts on Amazon, eBay, and your own eCommerce shop.
2. Researching Your Competitors
Researching your competitor beforehand is important in every kind of business and not only in truck parts eCommerce. It will help you understand what parts of the truck your competitors are selling, how are they pricing them, and will you be able to compete with them.
There is a very easy way to research your competitors selling truck parts online. Just search for a truck part in any search engine and see what comes up. Check the top search results and try to notice why are they at the top. You can get inspiration from them and help your truck parts business achieve the top position.
Don’t forget to check the customer reviews in their shop. If you see customers constantly complaining about something, note it and make sure they don’t complain about the same thing when they purchase from you. This way you can leave your competitors behind.
3. Knowing What You Are Selling
It’s important to know what products you will be selling before you actually start selling online. It will help you structure your eCommerce shop well, offer quality service to each and every customer, and save more.
You wouldn’t need to worry too much if you’re planning to list your truck parts on Amazon or eBay. But, if you are going to open your own eCommerce shop, you have to take everything into account from what kind of products you’re selling, who are your potential customers, what shipping company is safe and cheap, etc. For example if you’re selling Fleece Performance, it would be a good idea to know the product and your customer base. All these things help you design an eCommerce website that will attract your target audience and offer them a seamless experience.
Knowing what you’re selling also helps you choose the best shipping option. For example, if you’re selling external truck parts like bumpers that are less fragile and require big shipping boxes, you will need a shipping company that meets your product specifications and provide quick and less expensive service. Everything comes down to customer satisfaction in the end. You want your customer to receive the product in the same condition you sent it from your shop.
2. Setting Up Your Truck Parts eCommerce
Once you’re all set choosing your eCommerce platform and knowing what you’re selling, the most important step awaits you. Listing your truck parts for sale on an eCommerce shop seems like an easy job but in actual it requires a great amount of care. And if not done with care, you’ll most probably end up getting only 1 or 2 sales per month.
Here are the top tips while listing truck parts on an eCommerce store to get the highest number of sales.
1. Use clear and relevant product titles and descriptions
Using clear and relevant product titles and descriptions instantly tells customers that they are in the right place. Descriptions should be long enough to convince the customers that it’s the exact product they are looking for.
Also, don’t forget to use keywords in product titles. Don’t keyword stuff it but use them wisely so that the title is clear and concise and fulfills its purpose. Keywords are the words that customers often use while searching for a product in the search engines. Using these keywords in your truck part’s title or description increases the exposure of truck parts that you’re selling which ultimately results in an increased number of sales.
2. Offer Competitive Pricing
When it comes to eCommerce websites, the same product is sold by several retailers. Then how does a customer decide, from whom he should purchase it? It’s very simple for him. He purchases it from the retailer who is selling it at the cheapest price.
That’s why researching your competitor pricing is important. Customers run after the best deals. Offer them the best pricing and they’ll come right after you while leaving behind all your competitors.
One more thing that customers love is free shipping. You can price your truck parts by including the shipping cost and then offer free shipping to your customers. You won’t even lose anything.
Providing customers with discounts is also a great way of attracting sales. Instead of putting an item for sale at $80 without a discount, put up its original price as $100 and then say that you’re offering a 20% discount and is selling it at just $80. Customers get a feeling that they are getting a discount and it eventually gives them satisfaction too.
3. Use High-quality Product Images
High-quality product images get more attention and look more professional. A solid screen in the background and good lighting is enough to capture the best images of your truck parts. Take images from different angles to make it easy for the customer to see and analyze the truck part he is going to buy.
Uploading photos in the highest quality is not recommended as it may cause slow loading. Always upload product photos in medium quality such that it stays zoomable and also accounts for faster page processing.
4. Provide year/make/model for each truck part
Compatibility or fitment data is a very common term for truck part sellers. A customer is likely to skip purchasing a truck part if he isn’t sure whether it’ll fit in his truck or not. If you really want to get sales, provide complete and accurate fitment data for each truck part you’re listing for sale.
3. Creating Good Seller Reputation
Seller reputation also plays a vital role in truck parts eCommerce. Customers like to purchase items for their truck from sellers that have a good rating and are trustworthy.
On eCommerce stores like Amazon and eBay, customers give rating points and review to the sellers from whom they purchased an item based on the item’s quality, features, delivery time, etc. In order to create a good seller reputation right from the start, ensure that you are satisfying all your customers by offering them quality products and services.
Answer questions and inquiries as soon as possible. Offer return and refund policy to customers who aren’t happy with the products they received. It’s because they are most probably going to give you a very bad rating and a negative review if they have to keep a product for which they aren’t happy. So the simple thing is that don’t disappoint your customers at any cost and your seller reputation will improve in no time.
4. Helpful Strategies For Your Truck Parts eCommerce
1. Get reviews from past customers
Many sellers use fake reviews to fool customers into believing that they offer the highest quality products at the lowest prices. But customers have become watchful nowadays and don’t get fooled so easily.
The best way to get more positive reviews is by asking your past customers to leave a review of the truck part they bought from you.
2. Attract your target audience via Social Media Marketing
Social media platforms nowadays have become very advanced. They show your ads only to your target audience. For example, if you are selling truck parts, Facebook will show your ads to people who visited truck parts related websites, pages, or apps recently.
3. Offer Price Match Guarantee
If you are selling a truck part for the lowest pricing compared to your competitors, then always use a price match guarantee to ensure that you don’t lose a single consumer. Once a person looking for a truck part is sure that he’s not going to get it for a lower price than your shop, he’ll go nowhere.
Final Words
Hope this article was able to educate you on Truck Parts eCommerce. Shopping online is the way to go into the future. If you are serious about taking your truck parts business online, now is the time to do it.
If you still have any questions in your mind regarding the topic of this article, please ask in the comments.