Buying car parts online, including aftermarket car parts with specialized purposes, is becoming increasingly common. Just a few years ago you might not have thought about doing it as an option, but now there are quite a few e-Commerce retailers offering aftermarket and other car parts. If you`re a car person, what should you know about buying online? The following is an overview of the online car part market, the benefits of buying,and what to know when doing so.
E-Commerce and Aftermarket Shopping
According to data from UPS and comScore, 56% of shoppers looking for car parts and accessories purchase online. According to the same study, comparison shopping has increased by 12% since 2014, and now 95% of consumers who shop online for aftermarket parts compare the prices and products before making a purchasing decision.
63% use online coupons, and online shoppers don`t just have items shipped to their homes—they also shop retailers that have brick-and-mortar stores, and they use ship-to-store options.
Fur customers who are shopping primarily to make upgrades, product details,and reviews are most important to their research. For shoppers who want replacement parts, price and availability tend to be most important.
Price, availability,and selection are the key reasons customers will go with one retailer over another.
What Are the Benefits of Shopping Online for Parts?
There are a lot of reasons to shop for car parts online, especially if you want aftermarket and performance-increasing modification items.
Benefits of online shopping for car parts include:
- Depending on where you live, it`s likely that you have very limited choices as to where you can buy the items you want. Aftermarket car parts aren`t necessarily widely available at traditional retailers, and even at retailers that sell them the selection is still probably going to be pretty small. When you shop online, a whole new world of options opens up.
- You`re going to save money in almost all cases. It`s much cheaper for someone to operate an online store as compared to brick-and-mortar, so they have lower overhead and tend to pass those savings onto shoppers.
- It can be easy not just to gain access to what you`re looking for, but the search process itself can be easier. For example, you don`t have to think about buying the wrong item because of a mix up with numbering. You can simply enter product information and numbers and find what you`re looking for.
- You don`t have to deal with salespeople. Some people like going to store and working with someone in person, but other people don`t so if you`re one of those people, shopping online might relieve some of your anxiety.
Tips for Buying Online
Now that you have an idea of what the benefits of buying parts online might be, some tips for being smart as you shop online.
First, you want to not just think about the parts you`re looking for, but you want to learn more about the actual retailer. Look at their company history on their website and find out where they`re based and how long they`ve been in business. Some online retailers also have a brick-and-mortar store. You should do a quick search and see if anything negative or positive pops up about the store before you do any shopping with them.
Try to find a retailer with Google customer reviews or some other verified third-party review as well.
Customer service information should be easy to locate on the site, and if you do have a question or concern,the company or site representatives should be easy to get in touch with. Things like shipping and return policies should be clearly highlighted on the site, as should direct contact information.
A lot of retailers will also have customers write reviews for individual products on each listing as well, so look for those too.
Also, always be on the lookout for promotions, coupons,and discounts. A lot of online parts retailers will offer these throughout the year,so before you confirm any purchase, make sure you haven`t missed the opportunity to save money.
As a final note, before you purchase on any website, make sure that they use secure payment portals. They should list how they take payments and the security they have in place, and there should be terms and conditions listed on their site as well as a privacy policy. If you`re unsure or you feel like it could be a suspicious transaction, it might be best to look on another site.