Dealerships the world ‘round, whether across the street or across the sea, face the universal challenge of obsolescence on a daily basis. A specialty part was ordered, but the customer no-showed for their service appointment. You’ve been too busy to keep closer tabs on inventory and now you’re stuck with aging parts. It happens to every dealership every day.
The good news is that you can do something about it, and it doesn‘t require hiring more people or making a huge capital investment. It only requires dedication to the enthusiasts who are dedicated to your OEM. While your average customer is somewhat brand-agnostic, the enthusiast has likely loved your OEM for many years and will continue to stay devoted for years to come. Because of this long-term relationship, they need and want OEM parts that span models and years, and there‘s a good chance you have something for ‘em.
What you can do to free up shelf space, increase available capital, and grow dealership awareness by focusing on enthusiasts:
Meet Demand on eBay Motors
If you haven’t experienced eBay as a buyer yet, you’re in for a treat. Imagine wanting a very specific item, in very specific condition, that you have searched for high and low, and come up empty every time. Now, simply type what you’re searching for on eBay and you’ll be served up with several options from sellers across the country who want nothing more than to get that item off their hands. Enthusiasts flock to eBay Motors (the auto-specific side of eBay) for the same reason – someone, somewhere, has got to have what they’re looking for. Your dealership could be that someone.
There are more than 135 million active buyers on eBay, and drilling down to the specifics of enthusiasts, a vintage car part is sold every 11 seconds on eBay. Searchable by YMM and/or VIN, eBay Motors makes it easy for shoppers to find the correct parts for their specific vehicle.
Your entire parts inventory can easily be listed on eBay Motors with an online marketplace integration partner like Revolution Parts, maximizing efficiencies like bulk inventory upload and management, so the time-consuming and tedious task of single-item listings doesn’t slow you down.
Once you have your inventory available for a national audience to search for and access, you’ve made a huge leap in awareness and accessibility. But don’t stop there! Expand your reach and shout from the (internet) rooftops that you have what enthusiasts want!
Engage Enthusiasts Online
While tuning cars is very much an IRL (in real life) pursuit, talking about them can happen anywhere. And much like tapping a national enthusiast customer base on eBay Motors brings that interest right to your doorstep, the same is true for fellow enthusiasts who want to talk all about their favorite OEM.
Online communities like Reddit are great places to ask questions, learn more about your desired topic, and spend time engaging with other enthusiasts. Reddit is a place where you can “dive into anything,” where more than 82 million people a day post, vote, and comment on topics of interest. Finding a community is easy and searchable, and authenticity and usefulness are valued by users. Once your dealership has an online parts presence – whether through eBay Motors or a dedicated online parts store, or both – you can direct inquiring enthusiasts to where they can find that specific OEM part they’ve been wanting. Even better, you can “talk shop” with an engaged audience who may just teach you something you didn’t know!
Check Out Local Car Shows and Meetups
When enthusiasts aren’t working on their cars or talking about their cars online, they’re probably talking about their cars while standing right next to their cars. These meetups, sometimes referred to as car shows, car showcases or even “coffee and cars,” are often OEM-specific, and gather enthusiasts and owners for some good, old fashioned show-and-tell. A quick Google search for your city, OEM, and “car show” or “meetup” will probably give you some great leads on date, time, and location.
These meetups bring together vehicles of all makes, models and years, unifying their owners’ common love of your OEM. Typically held in parking lots that accommodate a crowd, proud owners can show off their vehicles and talk about them while visitors make the rounds and check out the cars on display. Here, you can meet enthusiasts and share more about your dealership and, most importantly, your parts department, which may just have the exact part they’re looking for. And if your parts inventory is online, you even have a website to point them to.
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