New research details skyrocketing acceptance of value lines, private label products
- Brake and wheel end components are the strongest value line category, with two-thirds of dealers stocking them and 44% citing them as their best value line sellers.
- Fleets of 100 trucks or fewer represent the largest value line buyer segment for 46% of aftermarket responders, outpacing owner-operators at 27%.
- Customer trust in suppliers now outweighs brand preference, with most buyers relying on their distributor's quality assurance rather than box labels.
Please click here to read ‘Customer acceptance of value line products skyrocketing,’ Part I of our industry report on the growing accepting and proliferation of value line and private label brands.
Braking and wheel end components are by far the strongest category for value lines across the commercial vehicle aftermarket, per TPS survey responders.
In the distribution channel, two thirds of responders who reported selling value lines said they stock value line brake and wheel end components — tied with lighting for the highest adoption rate by category. Spring and suspension components (56%) are the only other category with an adoption rate above 50% among dealers and independents.
Numbers in the supplier channel aren’t much different. Among the 68% of vendors who reported producing a value line, 57% claimed to have a brake or wheel end value line or private label offering — far outpacing spring and suspension (36%) and trailer parts (29%).
Brakes and wheel end parts also drive the most sales. Nearly half (44%) of dealer and independent aftermarket survey responders reported brake and wheel end components generate the highest sales volumes among their value lines. Lighting, despite having an equivalent stocking rate, was a top seller for just 4% of responders.
On a margin basis, spring and suspension parts are deemed the most lucrative by 22% of dealers and independent distributors, followed by lighting at 15% and a three-way tie of braking and wheel end, aftertreatment and emissions and body and cab components at 11%.
It’s also important to reiterate; Today’s value lines aren’t solely the preference of the low-cost buyer. Fleets of 100 trucks or fewer represent the largest segment of value line buyers for 46% of dealer and independent aftermarket survey responders. Owner-operators, conversely, are top buyers of value lines for only 27% of that same responder segment.
Thanks to ongoing design enhancements, expanded product offerings and, particularly in the case of private labels, OEM or point-of-sale-backed warranties, fleet acceptance of value lines are on the rise.
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All of those product benefits are put front and center when promoting Alliance Parts, Daimler Truck North America’s (DTNA) private label brand, says Brad Williamson, parts product marketing director.
“As customers gain experience with private label offerings, they are evaluating products based on performance and support rather than brand familiarity alone,” he says. “[Alliance] is designed for customers looking to manage maintenance costs without sacrificing confidence in the products they purchase.”
Alliance Parts, the private label brand of the Daimler Truck North America network, has more than 20,000 part numbers.Daimler Truck North America
As a DTNA dealer, Dabasinskas says Alliance enables Southport to be competitive with price-focused customers while still carrying a known brand his team can stand behind.
“Everyone says they all care about is price, but nobody walks around with a Nokia or a flip phone anymore,” he says. “People care about value with price.”
Brands perceptions are changing too
And customers still equate value with brands, but not always the brand on the box.
At Tampa Spring, President John Messina says his warehouse is mostly filled with branded product. As an independent service provider, Messina supports OE lines and premium, aftermarket alternatives because it is important to him the parts his technicians install are reliable, high-quality items.
Tampa Spring chooses to stock premium aftermarket brands in most cases because of confidence in the quality, performance and support they provide.Tampa Spring
Tampa Spring never wants callbacks or emergency unit down calls from customers, and Messina believes a great way to achieve that is through quality inventory. But he also notes very few shop customers ever ask for a specific brand. They trust Tampa Spring. His brand is what they rely on.
As such, Messina says he’s cautious with value lines, sticking to lower cost alternatives from trusted suppliers and only adding newer vendors after confirming their quality and post-sales support are up to his standard.
He avoids white box lines — “if something happens with a part, who supports it?” — and says he’s chosen not to create his own private label because he believes the quality control and support of an established, branded value line is a safer play.
Rick Sheehan takes a similar tack at State Spring & Alignment.
“We decide what we’re going to sell and what we’re not. Almost nobody comes in here asking for one brand or another,” says Sheehan, president of the Grand Rapids, Mich., shop. “We have a pretty good handle on the aftermarket parts we feel we can use and what we can’t … . The stuff we put on works, and works well.”
“One thing we’ve found is the customer isn’t always looking at the box,” adds Keith Evans, senior vice president of operations and general manager at Truck Supply Companies. “They trust us more than the brand.”
And Truck Supply is a brand house. Evans says customers are more cost driven today than they used to be, but rarely does that translate to someone requesting a value brand or turning down a brand with OE position.
Truck Supply Companies supports premium brands across its locations and believes most customers buy on the Truck Supply name, not the name on the box.Truck Supply Companies
What’s more common is Truck Supply offers a genuine replacement part, and if a customer is reticent, the distributor responds with its preferred lower cost option. But Truck Supply determines what that secondary line is, he says, and the quality and price point at which it resides.
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He also believes strong, consultative selling can still reduce value line adoption.
“We want [our people] to understand our product and the value it brings to the customer,” Evans says. “If something costs a little more but you very seldom need to reorder it, that’s something they need to know.”
Bill Nolan, president at PBS Truck Parts, agrees. Nolan says his sales team is always selling on total cost of ownership and how much a customer can save by purchasing high-quality parts. “When you buy quality, you are buying an insurance policy against failures and underperformance,” he says.
Cannon says Fort Garry salespeople also try to lead with premium brands but are trained to smartly pivot to branded value lines or the company’s expansive private labels when necessary. Like his fellow independents, Cannon believes aftermarket customers today put more trust in where they buy their parts than the boxes they come in. He says Fort Garry’s reputation gives buyers confidence its value lines are dependable.
“This is where us protecting our brand integrity pays off,” he says.
Please click here to read ‘The muddled future of truck parts,’ Part III of our industry report on the growing accepting and proliferation of value line and private label brands.
