Amazon.com is the Internet retailer largely responsible for bringing consumers into a new technological shopping age. It offers just about everything a consumer could consume, including cadavers and auto parts. OK, so I'm not serious about the cadavers, but is it beyond the realm of possibility? Not too long ago most of us thought the sale of auto parts online was absurd.
Today most consumers are no longer hesitant to buy off the Internet. Gone are the concerns of credit card theft, delivery delays and mysterious service policies, including returns.
With consumers pressed for time, the high cost of gas and the utter convenience of sitting on your butt to place an order, it's predictable that Internet shopping will continue to trend upwards.
That thought brings me to this year's keynote speaker for the eForum –– Steve Frazier –– Amazon.com's vice president of U.S. hardlines category management and overseer of the e-tailer's automotive efforts.
Frazier's presentation was billed as one that shouldn't be missed. The implication, of course, is that just how successful can this e-tailer be selling automotive parts? Or more to the point: how much business will it siphon off from your business?
Frazier was not presumptuous enough to blurt out that Amazon is taking some business from the traditional aftermarket. Even in an interview after his presentation, Frazier painted Amazon's aftermarket efforts more as an opportunity for aftermarketers rather than as competition. He points out that Amazon offers a number of ways to deliver parts and accessories to customers. It can ship directly, drop ship from a traditional distributor or manufacturer or sell parts through a third-party online retailer.
"I think it's an opportunity for people who want to get with the program and see the potential out there to try to find more business," Frazier says.
I can't say that's a bad idea; however, if you're looking to build your own brand then your task is to bolster your own online efforts. If that's not important to you, the Amazon's brokerage express could serve you well.
I know some, if not most of you, are thinking that Amazon really is geared toward fast moving parts and accessories and that you don't need to worry about it infringing on your commercial business because shop customers need immediate delivery.
The latter part of that statement may be true, but if you were reading closely Amazon has already penetrated the delivery barrier to some degree. Couple that creativity with Amazon's desire to provide the biggest selection on Earth for the markets it serves, and you may be starting to feel that you've been a tad slow in your e-commerce approach.
More disturbing may be what Frazier says about the DIFM business: "We sell some reasonably serious (items), and as our parts lookup gets better and our selection gets better and our data gets better, we've got a chance to earn a fair share of that business."
Sounds like a warning to me.
