Customer expectations and desires are always changing. History is littered with businesses that turned market-leading positions into bankruptcies. Revolutionary sales models are only cutting edge for so long.
Staying ahead in a market, any market, requires foresight and strategic brilliance, but it also requires dexterity. For every Amazon and Walmart driving retail innovation, there are thousands of other companies succeeding in direct competition against those behemoths thanks to product availability, market knowledge and customer service expertise.
The medium- and heavy-duty truck parts space has mostly avoided disruptions on the level of those retail giants, but the industry is still one in flux. Customer perceptions are changing, and innovations found in other markets are constantly putting pressure on brick-and-mortar parts retailers.
Success in 2023 and beyond in the parts business will require dealers and independent distributors to identify and implement tools that enhance customer experience and strengthen the bond between buyers and sellers.
When it comes to sourcing parts, the days of the printed supplier catalogs are numbered. For many vendors, they’ve already been discontinued. Truck parts suppliers are spending tens of millions of dollars annually to build online catalogs that offer the most expansive product information libraries the distribution channel has ever seen.
Distributors who aren’t using those portals are going to market with a hand tied behind their back. Print catalogs are outdated the second they are published and drastically limited in scope. Online portals, comparatively, give distributors access to thousands of data points instantly. When a customer’s truck is down and a part needs to be identified and ordered straightaway, online portals offer a much faster pathway toward resolution.
“This industry is challenging because, in some cases, a part number may not mean anything. You also need a quality description of product, specs, images, literature, guidance on how to install it or where to find it,” says Ram Chandrasekar, founder and CEO at PhaseZero.
