The good news, Kris Harrington says, is it's not too late to get online with parts sales. Harrington, CEO and co-founder of GenAlpha Technologies, says even she's surprised by that.
"I thought it was going to be too late five years ago," she says. "I continue to be surprised there's still that slow adoption."
But that's not going to be the case forever.
Harrington joined Molly MacKay Zacker and Travis Kokenes from MacKay & Company to talk about e-commerce on a Commercial Vehicle Solutions Network (CVSN) webinar Wednesday. MacKay provided data from a January study that showed while the majority of fleet truck and trailer parts ordering is still over the phone or in person, around 14% of parts ordering is happening online.
Dealers and distributors say just 5% of their sales are happening online, but when it comes to their own parts source, 24% is done online.
"Many more indicate they're using online parts sourcing practices," Kokenes says, with more than 80% of respondents saying they are sourcing at least some of their parts online.
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More importantly, 20% of fleets are changing parts providers because of a lack of online presence. Almost a third of fleets (27%) say they will reduce the number of parts purchased from a provider that doesn't have an online presence, up 7% from 2021.
"Fleets are looking for that online presence and they're willing to make a change if it isn't there," Zacker says.
An online presence isn't just a picture, either. MacKay asked survey respondents what they liked to see in an e-commerce site. Fleets say searches for part number by description and VIN are important, along with detailed photos and on-hand qualities. For dealers and distributors, availability is key, and both sides like to be able to see their order status and tracking.
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"They need the part, they need it now, and they need to make sure they have the right part," Zacker says.
Harrington says the industry is at an inflection point as older leadership retires and a younger, more tech savvy generation takes their place.
"We're seeing a massive workforce shift," Harrington says, adding statistics that show more than 11,000 Americans are turning 65 every day. "This generation, they're really the ones that brought us many of the processes and procedures that we follow today. You really can't blame them for not getting into e-commerce when you see all of the other things they've brought into their business."
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For business that aren't selling online, Harrington says they may be OK now, or even for a few years. But eventually, sales will start to decline, and even the best personal relationships won't be able to save the sales.
"If you're getting into this right now, it's not too late," Harrington says. "It's really critical that your business systems are robust enough and have the ability to integrate so you can leverage the technologies that are here today and the technologies that are coming."
A sales team, supported by the right technology, can use e-commerce sites to build even better relationships with a customer base.
"I really think to stand above the rest, most of the distributors out there are really selling to a community. They're selling their products to a local community that knows them, and they take care of them," Harrington says. "Your teams have to be educated, everyone, with what you're offering on the e-commerce side."
