In 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic swept across the world, and many – if not all – sectors were transformed. Shopping in person became hazardous; social distancing became the norm; instead of conventional purchasing experiences, internet shopping took over. The auto parts eCommerce market also saw a similar shift at this time: it reached $16 billion in sales in 2020, around 30% more than in 2019.
The automotive aftermarket sector is a good place for people who want to start their businesses. They can either develop their website and store or join an existing eCommerce marketplace such as Amazon, eBay Motors, and Walmart in the hopes of starting their own business.
If you are someone who sells auto parts and accessories, Amazon is the place for you. Amazon has an enormous customer base that’s looking to buy all sorts of automotive products. Amazon also provides a platform that enables retailers to quickly get into selling on Amazon without spending time building up their own website. However, there are some things that retailers need to know about selling auto parts and components on Amazon, which we will discuss in this article as well!
The Pros of Selling on Amazon
There are three primary reasons why you should consider becoming an Amazon seller and using this platform for automobile parts if you want to take advantage of what Amazon has to offer.
- Significant Customer Base
Every month, approximately 214.8 million unique visitors visit the Amazon marketplace across the world. You don’t have to go out of your way to attract clients one by one on this eCommerce platform since you can join up as an online auto parts retailer. The gated Automotive & Powersports category is accessible right away when you log in to this eCommerce platform’s automotive section. Such a vast consumer base is sure to benefit your company!
- Huge Potential for Revenue
Aside from having hundreds of millions of unique visits each month, it’s no surprise that Amazon generates billions of dollars in revenue. Its car parts, vehicle care goods, and accessories department earned more than $10.3 billion in 2020. OEM replacement parts brought in $1.9 billion during that time. The revenue potential in this sector is enormous. Automotive part stores that succeed easily earn six-figure incomes just by using their Amazon shops.
- Easy to Get Started
Even though there are numerous Amazon rules and guidelines to follow when launching your store, it is still a relatively simple procedure. You don’t have to build or develop your website or online shop, and you won’t have to spend money on marketing. Amazon wants some paperwork, photographs of your products, and accurate fitment data – nothing more, nothing less. Anyone can become a vendor on Amazon; this has both advantages and disadvantages.
What Are the Costs for Amazon Retailers?
Despite the benefits of selling aftermarket components on Amazon, there are some expenses that sellers must consider. Although selling automobile parts and accessories on Amazon eliminates certain expenditures that would otherwise be required, there are still several fees to consider. There are numerous sorts of charges available to Amazon sellers through Amazon.
The Amazon fee structure is intricate. Amazon may charge a lot when administering an Amazon store, especially considering that Amazon’s price-per-click is increasing. There are also marketing expenditures to consider and advertising on Amazon Seller Central, which can quickly add up.
Creating a seller account and registering with Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is the first step in selling your items on Amazon. This gives you access to Amazon Prime customers who demand fast delivery times, as well as a free returns policy. Setting up your inventory correctly so that purchase orders can be automated reduces any time spent manually preparing shipments to Amazon warehouses.
There are also Amazon costs and fulfillment expenses to consider. Amazon charges a referral fee for the goods sold, usually between 15% and 20%. Amazon also collects a monthly storage charge for inventory that isn’t being sold. The cost varies based on the size of your product, and Amazon may charge a pick-and-pack fee. There are also fees for certain services like Amazon Web Services. Other charges include things like Amazon Marketing Services and the Amazon Webstore.
The third component of selling on Amazon is Amazon Sponsored Ads. Amazon has a sophisticated advertising system that may be costly, especially when taking Amazon’s cost-per-click into account. These fees and others may rapidly add up, and Amazon merchants should think carefully before choosing to use an Amazon store.
The Added Costs of Managing an Amazon Auto Parts Store
Unlike every other industry, the automotive aftermarket sector must consider fitment data and its validity if it wishes to grow sales and stay competitive on Amazon as well as other sales channels. Fitting data is information that informs potential customers whether or not a particular component or accessory will fit their car model.
Customers purchasing goods from sellers who do not have the correct fitment information cause significant problems for buyers and vendors. Sellers with faulty product titles with incomplete coverage of their inventory items due to missing vehicle model and manufacturer part numbers (MPNs) often translate to missed sales opportunities or costly returns.
It might be challenging to get accurate fitment data for each component and ensure that it is up to date. Managing Amazon listings properly often necessitates the use of specialized software. Focusing on your Parts Manager to generate and manage listings, change shipping rates, and track sales will take a lot of effort if you want to succeed. Your Parts Manager may be already too busy managing all of the incoming orders via phone and the service department as well as keeping track of all current orders.
If you plan to do it yourself, keep in mind that adding all the correct information might take an hour or more per listing. It may take anything from three listings every hour to 3,000 listings over five months to correctly add all relevant information.
To fulfill all of these 3,000 parts and accessories on Amazon would take your Parts Manager almost half the year, not including any holidays. This does not account for new stock that comes in or adjustments to the listings. To run your Amazon auto parts store with this many people, you may need to hire additional paid staff. Hiring another salaried employee to manage your eCommerce site may cost anywhere from $50,000 to $70,000 a year.
What Auto Parts Sell Best on Amazon?
The automobile aftermarket is worth more than $390 billion in the United States. You may sell a variety of automotive parts and accessories on Amazon, but here are some of the most popular auto goods to begin selling right now! You have two alternatives when it comes to products to offer in the automobile aftermarket. Some items are simpler to sell on Amazon than others.
- OEM Components – OEM is an acronym that stands for original equipment manufacturers. OEM refers to a business that has been approved and licensed by the vehicle’s actual manufacturer to provide parts for it. The term genuine might refer to either OEM components or replacement components, depending on the context. Because genuine parts are less expensive than original equipment components, they are more popular than them.
- Automotive Aftermarket Parts – Third-party sellers are not authorized by any automobile manufacturer to manufacture parts for them. Despite this, the third-party market on Amazon is highly competitive. If you’re not in the business of OEM components, you’ll have to work hard to distinguish yourself from other third-party merchants. To succeed in the Amazon Buy Box, your pricing must be competitive, and your supply chain must be excellent.
Amazon, on the other hand, has no “used parts” category. Instead of the used section, you must use the refurbished area when dealing with used components. They may be purchased but still need a guarantee.
When it comes to selling your automobile components online, there’s no getting around Amazon. Its market dominance and captive customer base are undeniable. What makes Amazon especially beneficial for those in the parts and accessories industry is its auto parts finder, which is particularly effective when utilized with the ability to add relevant information to your listings (think ACES and PIES if you’re not sure what we’re talking about).
Customers may quickly discover the auto parts they need by vehicle using eBay Auto Parts’ tags, integrated with listings that take advantage of color variants and customization fields. In comparison to eBay Motors, your clients will be delighted to find that there’s no such thing as too much choice when it comes to automotive parts.
After you’ve decided to sell your automobile parts and accessories on Amazon, the first thing you should do is figure out which are the most popular auto parts and accessories on the Amazon Marketplace. Looking at the many options available for automotive parts and accessory vendors on Amazon is where you should start.
We’re left with three primary categories after we eliminate specialized niches that appeal to a small audience (such as RV Parts and Commercial Equipment) as well as vehicle-specific categories like Replacement Parts and Performance Components:
- Exterior Accessories
- Interior Accessories
- Lighting and LEDs
Exterior Accessories
Sticker price points for items like billet grille upgrades, chrome trim, nerf bars, tonneau covers, front lip/side skirt lip kits, and wind deflectors will all be in this category. The most popular sellers are aftermarket accessories from Lund, Putco, American Car Craft, and MGP Caliper Covers.
Interior Accessories
There are many options for automobile accessories in this category, especially when it comes to floor mats, shifter knobs, dash kits, window tints, seat covers, and standard interior molding trim. Gel enhanced seat cushions, garbage cans, and seatback organizers are just a few of the unusual goods available.
Car Lighting & LEDs
The most popular replacement headlights on Amazon are LED bulbs. There are many different brands, but the following are among the top sellers: replacement headlights for upgrades like halo lights, projectors, and HIDs. Running board lights, taillights, brake lights, turn signals lights, headlights, instrument cluster and gauge lighting, license plate lights, trunk lights, side marker lights, light bars, and even interior lighting are all Amazon bestsellers.
Other Automotive Part Categories
The benefits of these categories are that they are simple to enter: you don’t need detailed fitment information. For the most part, YMM (year, make, and model) is all that is required for you to start listing hundreds of excellent selling items. This makes buying easy for the average person, which is why some of these components are so popular in automobiles. Outside of the three types, there’s a lot of demand for parts in these fields as well:
- Air Filters
- Car tires and rims
- Shocks and Struts
- Car Covers
- Decals, stickers, and Replacement Emblems
- Keys and Keyless entry fobs (mostly replacements)
- Weatherstripping
- Performance Chips and Programmers
- Battery Accessories (chargers, jump batteries)
- Manuals and Literature
How To Increase Auto Parts Sales on Amazon
You can use Amazon to sell auto accessories, but there are a few things you should know before jumping in. If you do a quick search on Amazon for the term “auto accessories,” you’ll see that the results tell you everything you need to know about how to promote and sell automotive exterior, interior, and LED add-ons and goods on Amazon. The following are some of the most effective tactics for ensuring that you emerge ahead of the competition and get your piece of the Amazon car accessory market:
- Sponsoring Your Listings: The sponsored listings are the first thing you’ll see when looking for anything on Amazon. Sponsored listings not only should inform you that this feature is worth taking into consideration, but they can also shed light on which categories of items perform the best on Amazon. These are cost-per-click, so you only pay if people click on things.
- Consider The Prices: You’ll get fewer sales if you charge more, but you have a better chance of converting that click. Amazon customers are not as price-conscious as eBay buyers, although the A9 algorithm places a high value on prices.
- Mind Your Inventory: If your ad is disabled because of a lack of inventory on hand or when a component runs out, it may be due to an insufficient number of impressions. If you need to cancel any transactions, both your information and your data will be affected.
- Relevant Product Descriptions: The product title, bulleted description, and product copy are all included in the list. To get the most out of your investment, you’ll want to do some keyword research.
- High-Quality Images: By using high-resolution photographs of your goods that are zooming, you’ll be incentivizing people to search. Amazon advises that photos “be 1,000 pixels or larger in either height or width, as this will allow for zoom on the website (zoom has been found to increase sales). The maximum size of your file should be 500 pixels on each longest side. “Watermarks and text are acceptable; they just have to be inconspicuous.
- Providing Excellent Customer Service: Customer reviews are one of the elements over which you have little direct control, although they are an essential component since they directly impact your score and position in the search results. The evaluation procedure may be difficult, time-consuming, and stressful for both companies and customers. Gather as many testimonials as feasible to minimize the impact of negative consumer encounters since even bad ratings may be discounted. Another approach is to concentrate on providing exceptional customer service by following up with all dissatisfied clients to improve your product and avoid harm.
- Don’t Neglect Fitment Data: The aftermarket automobile industry has a distinct set of problems, unlike any other. When clients seek to buy a component or accessory, they must also ensure that the goods they’re considering will fit their vehicle. This is where compatibility data comes into play. Fitment data, often known as compatibility information, can be utilized to reveal whether or not a selected product will fit the vehicle. To stay competitive, you must ensure that your clients can find you when they seek the goods you provide. Consequently, accurate and comprehensive fitment data embedded in your product listings have a significant influence on your business’s success. Fitment data covers everything from vehicle year/make/model to trim/submodel, engine, and other variables.
How To Ensure Your Fitment Data Is Always Up-to-Date
How can you tell which vehicles will work with your components? You may consult the parts compatibility/fitment table to obtain a list of accessories and components, as well as all of the automobiles in which they are connected. Part catalogs and master vehicle lists are updated frequently, so staying up to speed on any changes that impact your automobile parts and accessories is crucial.
It’s possible that keeping your fitment data up to date and comprehensive may put your customers off. The need to update a fitment table is eliminated since all you have to do is fill it in once. It also allows you to perform large-scale fits.
As a seller on Amazon, your parts compatibility/fitment table will come in useful. Fitment or ACES data provides features such as the Shop Parts by Vehicle page, Part Finder Search Stripe, Compatibility Chart, and Your Garage. The Part Finder feature on Amazon also helps customers choose cars that are compatible with their parts.
Customers will be able to search for the parts they need on your platform, which sells automobile components and accessories if you provide a list of suitable elements by year/make/model. Since myFitment allows auto component suppliers to develop and manage their data in one location for any ACES-compatible eCommerce platform, it is unique. MyFitment serves as a repository for fitment data, allowing sellers to extract information from several sources by hand entry with immediate verification and bulk file upload via Excel spreadsheets.
myFitment has helped thousands of sellers sell on platforms like eBay, Amazon, Wal-Mart, and others to provide fitment. myFitment is a cost-effective alternative to expensive memberships or Windows-based programs.
