By Mark Phillips

YPSILANTI, Mich. — ACDelco delved further into the world of e-commerce and explained to its partners ways to leverage the Internet during the group’s eForum conference held this week in Ypsilanti, Mich.

The conference, which took place April 21-23, encapsulated the company’s emphasis on selling obsolescent parts, electronic security, e-training and promotion of Internet sales. It was held at Marriott’s Ann Arbor Hotel at Eagle Crest in Ypsilanti.

Below: ACDelco distributors speak to vendors at the company’s annual eForum conference.

This fourth annual session was open to affiliated warehouse distributors. Attendees could participate various training sessions, including overviews and deep-dives into ACDelco’s eSmart and ProDriver tools, as well as the company’s business-to-consumer (B2C) strategies.

There’s a burgeoning customer base for buying autos and auto parts online, said Famous Rhodes, of eBay Motors, which is partnering with ACDelco to sell obsolescent parts. In 2009, $19.3 billion was spent online on automotive, according to Forrester Research’s report "State of Online Retail." In 2007, $16.8 billion was spent online. Obsolescent parts sales through eBay Motors began as a pilot program more than a year ago for ACDelco and it has steadily gained traction.

ACDelco’s partnership with eBay Motors is a natural fit, said Rhodes, who provided some figures to bolster his point. For example, 22 percent of all minutes spent researching anything related to autos online are spent on eBay Motors, he said. And the pace of business on eBay Motors has been fierce. An auto is sold every minute on eBay Motors; a part or accessory is sold every second; and an engine or component is sold every 45 seconds, according to Rhodes. "Demand is our engine," he added.

Steve Liao, of MechanicNet, said distributors pay no eBay listing fees to sell their parts through the ACDelco/eBay partnership. eBay, which is known chiefly as an auction site, charges fees to list items for sale or auction. MechanicNet will pay those costs for distributors. "This is a risk-free program. There is no cost for you," Liao said. "They’re taking on the cost of listing fees. A typical store could expect to pay several thousand dollars a month in listing fees."

At left: Steve Liao, of MechanicNet, explains ecommerce solutions to ACDelco distributors at the company’s annual eForum, held April 21-23 in Ypsilanti, Mich.

The eBay Motors-ACDelco partnership has taken into consideration several factors to encourage participation, Liao said. WD names are hidden from buyers to prevent channel conflict with local customers. In addition, WD contact info is removed to prevent service burden on a WD’s counter staff. And sales tax is collected from customers so distributors don’t have to. "These are peak months for parts buying coming up, but we need inventory," Liao said. "This is for parts that aren’t moving. If they are moving, you need to make your margin on this."

UPS is the shipper of choice because MechanicNet’s system is integrated with them, Liao added.

PROMOTING INTERNET SALES
Renee David, an ACDelco advertising specialist, revealed to distributors the tricks to promoting their Internet sales and encouraged them to use paid search terms on Google rather than online advertising to reach customers. It’s the most efficient and a more precise method of reaching them, she said.

"Paid search is a way to find anything as a consumer," David said. "Search catches a consumer when they’re out there looking for something." With paid search, advertisers pay only when someone clicks on a link as opposed to some ads, which cost money every time someone sees the ad, regardless if they click through to a website.

There are two types of search on the web. "Natural search" is where people utilize Google, for example, and find results based purely on content of the web page. With "paid search," advertisers buy keywords and when a web user searches for a particular term, the appropriate links are served up. David stressed to distributors with ecommerce websites that they shouldn’t rush to buy any and every keyword.

"You don’t want to go out and purchase the term ‘ACDelco batteries’ if you don’t sell batteries," she said. "If you bought that and send someone to a page about filters, they’re going to be confused. Good content and driving people to the appropriate place in your site are the keys to success."

David said ACDelco buys about 1.8 million keywords, such as various combinations of the words "ACDelco batteries" and many variations of the most popular parts.

Michael Birnholz, president of Sophio Software, which builds and supports B2C-branded sites for ACDelco distributors, encouraged distributors to offer free freight shipping at a certain order size.

"Shipping may not be something that you’re used to," Birnholz said, adding that those entering the B2C marketplace must offer free shipping. "Shipping is probably the No. 1 reason businesses lose orders on B2C," he said. "This is really important stuff."

Photos courtesy of Barry Kluczyk/MS&L Worldwide.