The CarParts.com Business Model

Ron Pyle, president of the distribution network for CarParts.com, spoke to ACC about how CarParts.com plans to succeed and how its techniques differ from its competitors.

CarParts.com plans to provide end-to-end supply chain integration for the automotive aftermarket industry. The company, Pyle said, has observed that the automotive parts market is large, ubiquitous, fragmented, uses old technology, has a blind supply chain, and is inefficient.

CarParts.com's value proposition is not on price, but on parts identification, parts delivery and information management.

Its parts identification catalog uses AAIA standards and offers over 62,000 applications. The catalog includes over 2.7 million SKUs.

As for parts delivery, CarParts.com proposes to integrate the entire supply chain, without cutting anyone out of the supply chain. And data tracking and mining enable the company to provide valuable information management.

The value proposition CarParts.com offers manufacturers is reduced costs, real time marketing, data warehousing, program group integration, and exposure to a network of WDs and installers. CarParts.com has had more than 2 million unique visitors to its site, and has a 50 percent monthly traffic and sales increase. The company also has many strategic partners, including AutoNet, Parts Plus, Chilton's, Engage and Kana.

4600 East-West Hwy.
Bethesda, MD 20814

Phone:
240-333-1089

Fax:
301-654-3299

E-mail:
acc@aftermarket.org