By SEMA Washington, D.C., Staff

The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) granted exclusion requests for 36 products from the List 3 Chinese imports subject to 25% tariffs. The products cover a wide variety of commodities, from lollipops to vacuum cleaners, including:

• Starter motors for internal combustion gasoline engines designed for use in the lawn, automotive, watercraft, motorcycle, industrial and garden industries (described in statistical reporting number 8511.40.0000).

Find out more information online.

Questions? Contact Stuart Gosswein at stuartg@sema.org.

By SEMA Washington, D.C., Staff

The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) granted exclusion requests for 36 products from the List 3 Chinese imports subject to 25% tariffs. The products cover a wide variety of commodities, from lollipops to vacuum cleaners, including:

• Starter motors for internal combustion gasoline engines designed for use in the lawn, automotive, watercraft, motorcycle, industrial and garden industries (described in statistical reporting number 8511.40.0000).

Find out more information online.

Questions? Contact Stuart Gosswein at stuartg@sema.org.

By SEMA Washington, D.C., Staff

The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) granted exclusion requests for 36 products from the List 3 Chinese imports subject to 25% tariffs. The products cover a wide variety of commodities, from lollipops to vacuum cleaners, including:

• Starter motors for internal combustion gasoline engines designed for use in the lawn, automotive, watercraft, motorcycle, industrial and garden industries (described in statistical reporting number 8511.40.0000).

Find out more information online.

Questions? Contact Stuart Gosswein at stuartg@sema.org.

SEMA News—December 2019

RETAILER BEST PRACTICES

By Mike Imlay

Brand Selection:

Tapping the SEMA Data Co-op to Drive Retail Growth

By working with a data repository such as the SEMA Data Co-op retailers of any size or type can easily hone a strong product mix that reflects their brand and customer base for increased growth.

Basic to any retailing operation is identifying the right product mix to stock your store’s shelves or populate your website. Equally important is the ability to help consumers make sound purchasing decisions by supplying them with accurate, comprehensive information about those products. But with so many brands and application descriptions flooding the marketplace, where does a retailer begin?

With its free services to data receivers and a database of nearly 500 brands representing millions of part numbers, the SEMA Data Co-op (SDC) is an ideal tool to zero in on trusted brands and products for your customers and the comprehensive, accurate data needed to sell them.

Digital Drives Sales

Compelling reasons for resellers to tap into a robust database like the SDC include the fact that the “2019 SEMA Market Report” projected specialty-equipment sales to top $46 billion by 2020 in the U.S. market alone, with digital assets comprising a key driver.

“Consumers buy specialty-equipment products from a wide variety of retail locations,” the report noted. “The in-store experience continues to shine, as nearly 60% of all spending is done in brick-and-mortar channels, [but] digital channels are unquestionably important for both shopping and research.”

Today’s consumers are increasingly sophisticated with their online searches, checking everything from part numbers and fitments to price and even item availability. Satisfying their thirst for knowledge can give a retailer a leg up on the competition. Moreover, an online presence obviously widens a retailer’s geographical reach and opens up a 24/7 sales channel. So whether retailers are strictly brick and mortar, e-commerce or a combination of both, it behooves them to take advantage of the full range of digital assets available from parts suppliers.

“There are many types of resellers who join the SDC, and I wouldn’t say that there’s one type any more than another,” said SDC Director of Operations Gigi Ho. “We get a lot of solely e-commerce resellers, a lot of resellers who are actually buying parts online, installers and retailers who also have brick-and-mortar shops. You name it, there’s a pretty wide variety.”

According to SDC Customer Service Coordinator Sophia Cardona, the SDC offers a number of advantages to retailers, not the least of which is making sense of the marketplace.

“They’re coming to us for product information, and we have it on almost 500 brands,” she explained. “It’s mapped out very nicely for them in different types of formats. We’re talking about pricing, attribute information, ACES and PIES information—anything that you can think of that you would actually see on a website.

“We also offer a complimentary account if they sign up with the SDC, meaning they don’t pay, which is great, because most of our competitors do charge a fee. And another advantage to coming onboard with the SDC is the fact that our resellers get quick responses from our staff. That’s one of their biggest concerns. They don’t want to make a phone call or send an email and not hear anything back days or even a week later. The fact that they know they’re reaching real people who are responsive, who know the technology and care about them, makes a difference.”

Cardona further noted that the SDC is easily scalable for any size retail business, from mom-and-pop startups to larger, more established resellers looking to expand their offerings.

“We offer solutions for people at any stage,” she said. “Our data is helpful for those who are still in the development stages and not up and running yet, and our data is useful for those who may have had a website for a number of years.”

Once in the SDC system, retailers utilize online tools to quickly search and hone in on the suppliers and products that best meet their needs. They then send a request to the suppliers through the system for approval to begin receiving the datasets. Upon approval, the formats in which they receive that data are up to the retailer.

“If they’re used to looking at Excel files, they can receive it that way,” Ho explained. “If they want text, they can receive that. If they’re more sophisticated and want the direct-feed API or programmed-type feed, we can provide that, too. So really, we have a lot of technology services built in so that they can really get the information they want in the format that they need.

“And even in those exports, they can select certain product categories. So if they work with a carburetor supplier—even though that brand may manufacture many other products—they can select just to receive information on the carburetors, since they might get their injectors or their rockers from another source. They can be very specific as to their own experience and how they want to work with those different brands to suggest the products to
their customers.”

Data Best Practices

Once a retailer has joined the SDC, there are several best practices for utilizing the data they receive. First and foremost is the need to view product data as a communication stream from manufacturer to reseller to consumer. It’s like a business transaction in which all the industry parties must be mindful of how mishandled or poorly presented data can negatively impact everyone in the chain.

“It’s all about creating sales for both suppliers and resellers, so if the communication isn’t clear or the presentation of the data isn’t clear, it can cause issues,” Ho explained. “That’s why everyone is so careful about what they’re transmitting, what they’re receiving, and how it’s going to be communicated to the customer base.”

“One thing that I can specifically speak to is the sellers’ knowledge of data standards,” Cardona added. “They need to understand the differences between PIES and ACES and what they can expect when selling aftermarket products. They’re dealing with automotive aftermarket data and not just data that has to do with T-shirts or household items. Automotive aftermarket data is really complex, so they definitely want to be as knowledgeable as possible to help them sell those products. They should also train whoever is getting calls from their customers about the products.”

To help train new resellers in PIES, ACES and related aftermarket data standards, the SDC regularly directs them to the highly informative Autocare Association website (www.autocare.org). The SDC also has its own documentation useful to newer resellers as well as those desiring to further their expertise. In addition, Cardona conducts ongoing training for retailers through regular Go-To Meeting sessions. Those sessions cover everything they need to know to navigate the SDC system, request datasets, get exports and more.

“Another best practice in line with knowing the product data is actually knowing the products themselves,” Ho said. “It’s very tempting to think there are millions of products you could be selling, especially when you hear that the SDC has nearly 500 brands. That’s not a good strategy, because that level of product information requires a lot of upkeep. You want to have your pricing up-to-date, your digital assets up-to-date, and your descriptions tailored to your audience. Don’t drink from the fire hose; be very selective about the brands you’re requesting. You want to feel a comfort level with those brands because you are going to represent them. Your customers are going to look to you as a resource.”

Ho further advises e-commerce retailers to pay extra attention to hiring the right people to build and manage their websites.

“You should definitely have a web developer who’s also familiar with automotive product data,” she said. “Many developers think data is data. When they finally realize that certain products only fit certain vehicles, it just blows their minds.

“We like to use the analogy that when you go to the REI website for a sleeping bag, you’ll be asked about the length of the bag, the fill and maybe the color and style. But at no time does REI ask you the year, make and model of your tent. Nor does your tent explode if you buy the wrong bag. An aftermarket e-commerce site is not REI. There’s so much more involved with parts selection and fitment.”

Remember also that websites featuring “rich data” are a hit with consumers. Rich assets include not only ACES and PIES information but also short and long product descriptions, specs and “rich media” encompassing multiple images and videos. The SDC designates manufacturers that offer such comprehensive data as Platinum suppliers, and e-commerce sites will especially benefit from seeking them out and utilizing their full range of digital assets.

In the end, Cardona said, skillful data management is an exercise in branding.

“Certainly, we want to help retailers take more ownership of their brand, their store and their online presence,” she noted. “The aftermarket isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it industry or a quick-buck proposition. Success requires involvement.”

Learn More

For more information about SDC services and membership, visit www.semadatacoop.org or email Sophia Cardona at sophiac@semadatacoop.
org.

SEMA News—December 2019

RETAILER BEST PRACTICES

By Mike Imlay

Brand Selection:

Tapping the SEMA Data Co-op to Drive Retail Growth

By working with a data repository such as the SEMA Data Co-op retailers of any size or type can easily hone a strong product mix that reflects their brand and customer base for increased growth.

Basic to any retailing operation is identifying the right product mix to stock your store’s shelves or populate your website. Equally important is the ability to help consumers make sound purchasing decisions by supplying them with accurate, comprehensive information about those products. But with so many brands and application descriptions flooding the marketplace, where does a retailer begin?

With its free services to data receivers and a database of nearly 500 brands representing millions of part numbers, the SEMA Data Co-op (SDC) is an ideal tool to zero in on trusted brands and products for your customers and the comprehensive, accurate data needed to sell them.

Digital Drives Sales

Compelling reasons for resellers to tap into a robust database like the SDC include the fact that the “2019 SEMA Market Report” projected specialty-equipment sales to top $46 billion by 2020 in the U.S. market alone, with digital assets comprising a key driver.

“Consumers buy specialty-equipment products from a wide variety of retail locations,” the report noted. “The in-store experience continues to shine, as nearly 60% of all spending is done in brick-and-mortar channels, [but] digital channels are unquestionably important for both shopping and research.”

Today’s consumers are increasingly sophisticated with their online searches, checking everything from part numbers and fitments to price and even item availability. Satisfying their thirst for knowledge can give a retailer a leg up on the competition. Moreover, an online presence obviously widens a retailer’s geographical reach and opens up a 24/7 sales channel. So whether retailers are strictly brick and mortar, e-commerce or a combination of both, it behooves them to take advantage of the full range of digital assets available from parts suppliers.

“There are many types of resellers who join the SDC, and I wouldn’t say that there’s one type any more than another,” said SDC Director of Operations Gigi Ho. “We get a lot of solely e-commerce resellers, a lot of resellers who are actually buying parts online, installers and retailers who also have brick-and-mortar shops. You name it, there’s a pretty wide variety.”

According to SDC Customer Service Coordinator Sophia Cardona, the SDC offers a number of advantages to retailers, not the least of which is making sense of the marketplace.

“They’re coming to us for product information, and we have it on almost 500 brands,” she explained. “It’s mapped out very nicely for them in different types of formats. We’re talking about pricing, attribute information, ACES and PIES information—anything that you can think of that you would actually see on a website.

“We also offer a complimentary account if they sign up with the SDC, meaning they don’t pay, which is great, because most of our competitors do charge a fee. And another advantage to coming onboard with the SDC is the fact that our resellers get quick responses from our staff. That’s one of their biggest concerns. They don’t want to make a phone call or send an email and not hear anything back days or even a week later. The fact that they know they’re reaching real people who are responsive, who know the technology and care about them, makes a difference.”

Cardona further noted that the SDC is easily scalable for any size retail business, from mom-and-pop startups to larger, more established resellers looking to expand their offerings.

“We offer solutions for people at any stage,” she said. “Our data is helpful for those who are still in the development stages and not up and running yet, and our data is useful for those who may have had a website for a number of years.”

Once in the SDC system, retailers utilize online tools to quickly search and hone in on the suppliers and products that best meet their needs. They then send a request to the suppliers through the system for approval to begin receiving the datasets. Upon approval, the formats in which they receive that data are up to the retailer.

“If they’re used to looking at Excel files, they can receive it that way,” Ho explained. “If they want text, they can receive that. If they’re more sophisticated and want the direct-feed API or programmed-type feed, we can provide that, too. So really, we have a lot of technology services built in so that they can really get the information they want in the format that they need.

“And even in those exports, they can select certain product categories. So if they work with a carburetor supplier—even though that brand may manufacture many other products—they can select just to receive information on the carburetors, since they might get their injectors or their rockers from another source. They can be very specific as to their own experience and how they want to work with those different brands to suggest the products to
their customers.”

Data Best Practices

Once a retailer has joined the SDC, there are several best practices for utilizing the data they receive. First and foremost is the need to view product data as a communication stream from manufacturer to reseller to consumer. It’s like a business transaction in which all the industry parties must be mindful of how mishandled or poorly presented data can negatively impact everyone in the chain.

“It’s all about creating sales for both suppliers and resellers, so if the communication isn’t clear or the presentation of the data isn’t clear, it can cause issues,” Ho explained. “That’s why everyone is so careful about what they’re transmitting, what they’re receiving, and how it’s going to be communicated to the customer base.”

“One thing that I can specifically speak to is the sellers’ knowledge of data standards,” Cardona added. “They need to understand the differences between PIES and ACES and what they can expect when selling aftermarket products. They’re dealing with automotive aftermarket data and not just data that has to do with T-shirts or household items. Automotive aftermarket data is really complex, so they definitely want to be as knowledgeable as possible to help them sell those products. They should also train whoever is getting calls from their customers about the products.”

To help train new resellers in PIES, ACES and related aftermarket data standards, the SDC regularly directs them to the highly informative Autocare Association website (www.autocare.org). The SDC also has its own documentation useful to newer resellers as well as those desiring to further their expertise. In addition, Cardona conducts ongoing training for retailers through regular Go-To Meeting sessions. Those sessions cover everything they need to know to navigate the SDC system, request datasets, get exports and more.

“Another best practice in line with knowing the product data is actually knowing the products themselves,” Ho said. “It’s very tempting to think there are millions of products you could be selling, especially when you hear that the SDC has nearly 500 brands. That’s not a good strategy, because that level of product information requires a lot of upkeep. You want to have your pricing up-to-date, your digital assets up-to-date, and your descriptions tailored to your audience. Don’t drink from the fire hose; be very selective about the brands you’re requesting. You want to feel a comfort level with those brands because you are going to represent them. Your customers are going to look to you as a resource.”

Ho further advises e-commerce retailers to pay extra attention to hiring the right people to build and manage their websites.

“You should definitely have a web developer who’s also familiar with automotive product data,” she said. “Many developers think data is data. When they finally realize that certain products only fit certain vehicles, it just blows their minds.

“We like to use the analogy that when you go to the REI website for a sleeping bag, you’ll be asked about the length of the bag, the fill and maybe the color and style. But at no time does REI ask you the year, make and model of your tent. Nor does your tent explode if you buy the wrong bag. An aftermarket e-commerce site is not REI. There’s so much more involved with parts selection and fitment.”

Remember also that websites featuring “rich data” are a hit with consumers. Rich assets include not only ACES and PIES information but also short and long product descriptions, specs and “rich media” encompassing multiple images and videos. The SDC designates manufacturers that offer such comprehensive data as Platinum suppliers, and e-commerce sites will especially benefit from seeking them out and utilizing their full range of digital assets.

In the end, Cardona said, skillful data management is an exercise in branding.

“Certainly, we want to help retailers take more ownership of their brand, their store and their online presence,” she noted. “The aftermarket isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it industry or a quick-buck proposition. Success requires involvement.”

Learn More

For more information about SDC services and membership, visit www.semadatacoop.org or email Sophia Cardona at sophiac@semadatacoop.
org.

SEMA News—December 2019

RETAILER BEST PRACTICES

By Joe Dysart

Online Reputation Management for Retailers:

The Top 10 Solutions

Without an organized way to monitor and respond to online reviews, retailers face potential peril.

Given the ever-increasing influence of hundreds of business-review sites that have popped up on the web, retailers need an organized way to monitor and respond to trash talk and other comments about them that appear online—or face potential peril.

These days, 86% of customers read reviews for local businesses before they decide to order from them online or visit a brick-and-mortar store, according to a 2018 study from BrightLocal
(www.brightlocal.com/learn/local-consumer-review-survey). And more than half—57%—say that they’ll shop at your store only if it has a minimum overall rating of four out of five stars. In fact, review readers say that they need to see at least 10 online reviews before they’ll even consider doing business with you, according to BrightLocal.

“With the emergence of social media, information is generated, relayed and consumed almost instantaneously,” said Marshneil Pachori, a senior manager at IT service provider Cognizant (www.cognizant.com).

“Opinions are transmitted by scores of web users in real time—good, bad or ugly—and all points of view are shared and open for discussion,” added Pachori, who authored the 2018 Cognizant report, “Authoring a Brands Online Reputation” (www.cognizant.com/insightswhitepapers/authoring-a-brands-online-reputation-codex1232.pdf). “If your organization makes someone unhappy in the virtual world, chances are that it will be relayed to many others in no time.”

Fortunately, there are a number of online service providers with online reputation-management solutions that enable you to monitor and respond to the publication of reviews about your store in real time. Many will send you an email alert the moment a new review about your store posts on any of the major online review sites. Many are also equipped with artificial intelligence, which sifts through all the reviews of your business online to identify trends in consumer sentiment about your store.

Many solutions are also designed to integrate with other popular business software you may use, enabling you to handle a number of tasks from the same dashboard.

G2 Crowd (www.g2.com), an online business software review service, has identified the top 10 online reputation-management solutions currently available on the market today, based on reviews from businesses that are using those solutions. Below is a roundup on the packages, listed in order of popularity, according to G2.

BirdEye (www.birdeye.com/retail): A comprehensive reputation-management suite, BirdEye also offers a special version of its software just for retailers. The package’s retail features include leveraging reviews to enhance customer loyalty as well as a tool to collect feedback from every customer via smartphone text messaging.

BirdEye also sends alerts about new customer reviews to the appropriate staff at your store so they can put out customer satisfaction fires very quickly. Other features include customer surveys, social-media publishing and web chat.

Podium (www.podium.com): This is a team-focused reputation-management solution that is designed to make it easy for a team of people at your store to work together to track online reviews and respond when appropriate. Key to team management is Podium’s team chat messaging system, which enables workers at your store to communicate together about reviews and other consumer sentiment from within the application.

Podium also messages customers to solicit feedback and collects reviews on your store from customer smartphone messages.

ConsumerAffairs for Brands: (https://brands.consumeraffairs.com): ConsumerAffairs for Brands plays it both ways when it comes to online reviews. It solicits reviews from customers on its website and then offers businesses software to do damage control on those reviews if need be. The online service offers retailers a number of ways to collect customer reviews, and it also offers a call center that will collect reviews for your business via phone.

ReviewTrackers (www.reviewtrackers.com): This solution specializes in aggregating and analyzing online reviews from all major review sites. Included in the service are customizable notifications that reviews on your store have been published as well as tools enabling appropriate staff to respond to reviews.

Also featured is analysis of the text customers use in their reviews, including sentiment analysis. Essentially, the company promises that the artificial intelligence in its service will identify trends in your reports along with insights about how your customers really feel about your store, product and/or service.

Reputology (www.reputology.com): This solution bills itself as a reputation monitoring service for retailers with multiple locations. Like many solutions, it will auto-contact staff that you designate each time a review on your store is posted on any of the major review sites.

Reputology will also enable you to survey customers at key points of contact with your store in an effort to pick up on customer dissatisfaction before it becomes a problem—or a bad review. It also analyzes the text of positive and negative customer sentiment, the results of which are rendered as trend charts, word-cloud reports and statistics tables.

One interesting twist: Reputology also scans for employees’ names in all reviews, bringing up reports on the performance of each one of your employees as perceived
by customers.

Trustpilot (www.trustpilot.com): This solution enables retailers to automate collection of reviews on their websites and other web properties and gather overall feedback on their stores that is published on the web. Trustpilot also offers a template you can used to solicit reviews on your website or via email.

Appbot (www.appbot.co): Appbot specializes in reputation-management tools that can be used easily on a smartphone or similar mobile device. Like many solutions, it features artificial intelligence that looks for trends in customer reviews, including trends in customer sentiment. You can also configure Appbot to scout for specific types of sentiment that concern you most.

The service is also designed to integrate with popular software such as Slack, Zendesk, UserVoice, Delighted and the like.

Chatmeter (www.chatmeter.com): Besides tracking sentiment in customer reviews of your store, Chatmeter also analyzes how your reviews stack up against those of your competitors. Are you doing better than your competition? Worse? Chatmeter will let you know.

Retailers with multiple locations will appreciate Chatmeter’s ability to analyze customer sentiment on a store-by-store basis. And like many solutions, it auto-notifies you by email the instant a review of your store appears on any of the major review sites.

In a nice bonus, Chatmeter offers a plug-in for your website that will enable you to share reviews from major review sites such as Yelp! on your website.

Reputation.com (www.reputation.com): Another solution specializing in retailers with multiple store locations,
Reputation.com enables you to monitor reviews from “hundreds” of review sites on a central dashboard. It also enables you to share reviews from major review sites such as Yelp! on your store’s website.

Yext (www.yext.com): Yext manages your store’s presence on the web in a fairly unique way. It ensures that your company’s basic contact information and description is clear and up-to-date on more than 150 web mapping services, apps, directories, search engines and social networks.

When a potential customer enters your business name in Google, Yext ensures that all the search-engine returns from all the web services that monitor your store feature correct information.

Joe Dysart is an internet speaker and business consultant based in Manhattan.

646-233-4089

joe@joedysart.com

www.joedysart.com

SEMA News—December 2019

PEOPLE

Meet The 2019–2020 SEMA Board Of Directors

By Douglas McColloch

The members of SEMA's board elected by the association’s membership. Directors serve three-year terms, while the chairman serves for two years, immediately after completing a two-year term as chairman-elect.

SEMA is governed by a Board of Directors who volunteer their time to provide leadership and guidance to the organization. Board members are nominated and elected by the association’s membership at large.

Directors serve a three-year term, while the chairman serves for two years immediately after completing a two-year term as chairman-elect.

The current Board was inaugurated at the 2019 SEMA Installation & Gala, held July 26, 2019, at the Anaheim Marriott, Anaheim, California.

“The SEMA Board of Directors represents the entire spectrum of our $46 billion specialty-equipment industry,” said SEMA President and CEO Chris Kersting. “The Board sets association priorities, oversees our many initiatives and programs, addresses vital regulatory, technological and marketplace issues affecting our businesses, and promotes the overall health and success of our industry. On behalf of SEMA, I wish to thank these individuals their volunteerism and dedication to our association."

2019–2020 SEMA Board Officers

1. Chairman: Tim Martin, Aftermarket Advisors LLC
2. Chairman-Elect: James Lawrence, Power Automedia
3. Immediate Past Chairman, Secretary: Wade Kawasaki, Legendary Companies
4. Treasurer: Kyle Fickler, Aeromotive Inc.

2019–2020 SEMA Board Members

     5. Greg Adler, Greg Adler Motorsports
     6. Chris Douglas, Comp Performance Group
     7. Donnie Eatherly, P&E Distributors
     8. Dan Kahn, Kahn Media
     9. Brian Lounsberry, Motovicity Distribution
   10. Dr. Jamie Meyer, General Motors
   11. Kathryn Reinhardt, Pilot Automotive
   12. Les Rud, CMPR, Bob Cook Sales
   13. Steve Whipple, Edelbrock LLC
   14. Melanie White, Hellwig Products

SEMA News—December 2019

PEOPLE

Meet The 2019–2020 SEMA Board Of Directors

By Douglas McColloch

The members of SEMA's board elected by the association’s membership. Directors serve three-year terms, while the chairman serves for two years, immediately after completing a two-year term as chairman-elect.

SEMA is governed by a Board of Directors who volunteer their time to provide leadership and guidance to the organization. Board members are nominated and elected by the association’s membership at large.

Directors serve a three-year term, while the chairman serves for two years immediately after completing a two-year term as chairman-elect.

The current Board was inaugurated at the 2019 SEMA Installation & Gala, held July 26, 2019, at the Anaheim Marriott, Anaheim, California.

“The SEMA Board of Directors represents the entire spectrum of our $46 billion specialty-equipment industry,” said SEMA President and CEO Chris Kersting. “The Board sets association priorities, oversees our many initiatives and programs, addresses vital regulatory, technological and marketplace issues affecting our businesses, and promotes the overall health and success of our industry. On behalf of SEMA, I wish to thank these individuals their volunteerism and dedication to our association."

2019–2020 SEMA Board Officers

1. Chairman: Tim Martin, Aftermarket Advisors LLC
2. Chairman-Elect: James Lawrence, Power Automedia
3. Immediate Past Chairman, Secretary: Wade Kawasaki, Legendary Companies
4. Treasurer: Kyle Fickler, Aeromotive Inc.

2019–2020 SEMA Board Members

     5. Greg Adler, Greg Adler Motorsports
     6. Chris Douglas, Comp Performance Group
     7. Donnie Eatherly, P&E Distributors
     8. Dan Kahn, Kahn Media
     9. Brian Lounsberry, Motovicity Distribution
   10. Dr. Jamie Meyer, General Motors
   11. Kathryn Reinhardt, Pilot Automotive
   12. Les Rud, CMPR, Bob Cook Sales
   13. Steve Whipple, Edelbrock LLC
   14. Melanie White, Hellwig Products

SEMA News—December 2019

RETAILER BEST PRACTICES

By Joe Dysart

Nine Ways to Make Your E-commerce Site Better

By implementing best practices, you’ll maximize sales on your e-commerce site.

Online marketing experts say that you’ll get the most from your e-commerce site if you ensure it has the top features consumers are looking for. Here’s how to ensure your site has what it takes, according to top online marketing consultants.

Make Sure It’s Mobile-Friendly: Given that a majority of the U.S. population now appears permanently fused to a smartphone, ensuring that your website is mobile-friendly has never been more crucial. Besides offering effortless navigability, being mobile-friendly has the added benefit of ensuring that your e-commerce site registers higher in search-engine returns.

“Of all the factors looked at by Google when deciding how to rank your website on search engines, mobile usability is ranked as the third most important of all the factors,” said Erica Lovestrand, digital marketing strategist for August Ash (www.augustash.com). “If your site doesn’t work well or look right on a mobile device, studies show that people will simply stop visiting it in favor of a site that provides a better mobile experience.”

One caveat: Just remember that mobile-friendly represents only one dimension of site navigability. You also need to ensure that your e-commerce site is easy to cruise using a tablet or laptop and that it’s also desktop-friendly. The big mistake too many e-commerce site owners make these days is focusing solely on pleasing smartphone visitors and forsaking other users. The result is e-commerce sites that look horrible and are tough to navigate on other size devices—and lost sales.

Add Only Low-Resolution Photos: For retailers, the rule of thumb on images is that the lower the resolution on product photos, the better. The reason is that the web is designed to make low-resolution photos look great. And low-resolution photos translate into faster download times for your e-commerce site.

You’ll also want to be sure to title your product images with keywords that consumers use when searching for the products you sell.

Develop an Online-Reviews Strategy: Consumer reviews of businesses and products now have center stage in terms of determining whether or not someone will buy from you.

“The fact is, 90% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business, and 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations,” said Khalid Saleh, co-author of Conversion Optimization: The Art and Science of Converting Visitors Into Customers.

Consequently, all retailers need to continually monitor what people are saying about them and their products on all the major review websites. There are a number of online services that can help in that monitoring, including Yext (www.yext.com), Trustpilot (www.trustpilot.com), Grade.us (www.grade.us/home) and PowerReviews (www.powerreviews.com).

For a comprehensive view of what’s available, check out the following websites, which specialize in reviews of business software:

• Capterra: www.capterra.com/reputation-management-software
• Finances Online: www.financesonline.com
• GetApp: www.getapp.com
• G2 Crowd: www.g2crowd.com/categories/online-reputation-management
• Software Suggest: www.softwaresuggest.com/us/reputation-management-software
• Software Advice: www.softwareadvice.com

Capitalize on Your Social-Media Credibility: Besides reading formal reviews, consumers can get a good feel for what your store is like from comments posted on Twitter, Facebook and the like. Fortunately, you’re able to display what people are saying about you on social media with online services such as Flockler (www.flockler.com).

Flockler essentially lifts posts from social media and then repackages them as a “social-media wall” on your e-commerce site, blog or other digital property. You can also hide inappropriate posts that Flockler finds.

Offer Wish Lists: Many visitors to your e-commerce site will often stumble onto products and services they’d like to buy on another occasion. Give them an easy way to remember that intention with a “Wish List” tool that stores products and services they’re thinking about purchasing with the online store account they have with you.

Offer a Pick-up-in-Store Option: While many shoppers have simply abandoned brick-and-mortar stores with the advent of online ordering, there’s still a significant percentage of consumers who prefer picking up their purchases in the real world. That is especially true of people who simply need one of your products or services as soon as possible. It’s also true of shoppers who want to eyeball and handle products in person before they buy.

“In spite of what you might hear in the news about stores shuttering in the face of e-commerce, they are still far from passé,” said Rob Garf, vice president for industry strategy and insights at Salesforce (www.salesforce.com), a goliath in sales management software. “In today’s rapidly changing retail renaissance, brick-and-mortar locations can be seamlessly woven in with their virtual destinations as a point of competitive differentiation: tactile experiences bolstered by unique products, flexible fulfillment options, and personalized shopper-centric services.”

Offer Multiple Payment Options: Offering a spectrum of payment options does make your job tougher as an online retailer, but it can reap additional online sales for you. If you’re willing to add the additional overhead and maintenance that goes along with offering additional payment options, consider adding services such as PayPal, Apple Pay—and even Bitcoin.

Ensure That Your Return Policy Rocks: Offering easy and hassle-free returns is another hallmark of top-tier e-commerce sites. The best e-commerce sites clearly state how their return policies work, and they post their policies prominently on their websites. Such postings reassure consumers that there will be no games, dodges or head-fakes when it comes to replacing a product that did not deliver on its promise.

Realize That Shipping Is a Competitive Sales Tool: Shipping has become a major factor that web visitors consider before deciding to do business with an e-commerce site. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), 65% of consumers say that they look up the limitations on free shipping offered by various retailers before adding something to their online shopping carts.

Further, 39% of consumers expect two-day shipping to be free—and if you don’t offer it, consumers will shop somewhere else. Another 29% of consumers have backed out of a purchase because two-day shipping wasn’t free, according to the NRF (https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/nrf-study-says-more-online-shoppers-want-free-shipping).

Of course, it’s tough to compete on shipping with goliaths such as Amazon, which offers two-day, one-day and occasionally even same-day shipping, but you’ll still want to be as competitive and reliable on shipping as possible.

“A negative shipping experience can have an irreparable impact on your relationship with customers,” said Jullian Hufford, a marketing analyst at nChannel (www.nchannel.com) an online retail systems integrator. “All it takes is one mistake to erode your brand image and customer loyalty.”

Bulletproof Security: Unfortunately, one of the costs of selling on the web is the risk of a cyber break-in, so you’ll want to ensure that your you e-commerce site’s security is at Doberman strength. An easy way to handle that is to have your e-commerce site hosted by a cloud service provider, which will take care of all the security for you.

If you’re handling security in-house, you’ll want at minimum:

• A gold-plated quality firewall system.
• IT network security software.
• Regularly installed security updates for all of the software you use.
• Employee education programs that train staff to beware of suspicious emails, suspicious websites and suspicious phone callers asking for passwords and other network access information.

“It’s far harder to recover from a security breach than it is to prevent it in the first place,” said Sarah Elizabeth, marketing manager for Clearsale (www.clear.sale), a security company specializing in preventing online credit card fraud. “And it can be even harder for smaller, online-only retailers.”

Joe Dysart is an internet speaker and business consultant based in Manhattan.

646-233-4089

joe@joedysart.com

www.joedysart.com

SEMA News—December 2019

BUSINESS

ADAS Problem Solving

Hansen VTF Labs Demonstrates the Opportunity It Has Found in Calibration Services

By Mike Imlay

Hansen VTF Labs general managers Kevin Yen (left) and Steve Korkis prepare to calibrate the lane-departure alert on a Toyota Tacoma. The test-fit center has enhanced its business model with ADAS diagnostic services to meet a growing aftermarket need.

As OEMs roll out an expanding array of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) on their new vehicles, the latest technologies are proving to be a mixed bag for the aftermarket. On one hand, they open new product channels for the industry’s suppliers and retailers. On the other, they present a challenge to collision-repair, customization and installation shops, all of which must contend with the safe functionality of ADAS components on completed projects.

However, every challenge is an opportunity in disguise, and at least one aftermarket service provider is emerging as a case study in leveraging ADAS technologies. Located in Anaheim, California, Hansen VTF Labs was co-founded in 2001 by brothers Chuck Hansen and David Hansen Sr. of Hansen Auto Body & Paint. Drawing upon their collision-repair experience, they set about offering aftermarket manufacturers a creative test-fit center for the research, design and production of high-quality parts. Today, Hansen VTF’s preproduction services include CAD and R&D assistance, jig and mold creation, digital scanning, master part selection, and vehicle test fits. The lab boasts ISO 9001:2015 certification and I-CAR-certified auto body technicians who bring a real-world view to their work.

The Tacoma was elevated to simulate a 6-in. aftermarket lift. The team used Autel MaxiSys ADAS calibration equipment to demonstrate that a simple vehicle software adjustment and calibration would bring the lane-departure feature back into compliance.

In 2019, the company added ADAS calibration to its list of services, giving collision repairers and other aftermarket businesses a speedy, cost-effective alternative to dealership or in-house ADAS calibrations. SEMA News recently toured the facility to see its business model firsthand. Although obviously a technology expert himself, President and CEO Chuck Hansen let his staff take the lead in explaining the lab’s operations.

“We decided that ADAS is something new and is going to be very important, so we have taken the initial investment to purchase equipment, get the training, get the knowledge, and help collision-repair shops improve cycle time,” said Steve Korkis, Hansen VTF Labs general manager. “Yes, they can take a vehicle to a dealer, but we all know the process. You can spend hours there waiting for a service adviser. They write you up, the vehicle goes to the back, and who knows when that technician gets to it? It could be two days, three days or even four days, from what we understand from some of the shops that we work with. So we are presenting same-day turnaround. We get the vehicle in, assess what needs to be calibrated, including pre-scans and post-scans, and then go from there.”

Laser targets on the Tacoma’s wheels helped ensure that all of the calibration equipment was properly aligned. Hansen VTF Labs carefully follows all OEM-specified procedures for each vehicle’s tests.

“After each ADAS calibration we perform a test drive to make sure everything is operating correctly before returning the vehicle to the customer,” added Kevin Yen, also a Hansen VTF general manager. “We want to make sure the vehicle is returned to its pre-collision condition.”

Yen noted that there are both dynamic and static calibrations associated with many ADAS systems, meaning that some functions will calibrate on their own while others will not. The trick is knowing what you’re dealing with—and it can vary from maker to maker and model to model.

The facility also serves as a proving ground for aftermarket products aimed at ADAS-equipped vehicles.

“We’re here to help the aftermarket industry make sure that their products are exact replacements for OE parts and operate the same,” Yen said. “OEMs have released positioning statements saying that aftermarket parts may not work well with their safety systems, so in order for us to fight that claim or statement, we have to get the equipment, get the car—for example, one with an aftermarket bumper and the OEM radar unit in the back—and see if it will calibrate and if that feature will work properly.”

This triangular deflector is used to test and calibrate vehicle radar systems. Placed at the OEM-prescribed distance, it supplies immediate feedback to the ADAS calibration equipment.

The lab’s equipment includes an Autel MaxiSys ADAS calibration unit complete with lasers, radar reflectors and targeting boards for all major manufacturers. The boards consist of differing black-and-white geometric patterns that help aim vehicle cameras. The lasers ensure precise distances, measurements and leveling when calibrating vehicles, and the deflectors act as calibration targets for radar beams.

“We bought the complete [Autel] package,” Yen said. “There are also a number of other manufacturers making ADAS calibration kits. It’s increasing every year.”

Korkis and Yen performed a live demonstration, recalibrating the lane-departure alert on a Toyota Tacoma truck raised to simulate the 6-in. lift of an aftermarket kit. On that particular model, they learned that changing the height measurement in the software and calibration were required for safety compliance.

Ensuring that rearview cameras satisfy FMVSS111 requirements can take a lot of room—and a lot of different targets and patterns for differing vehicle models. Hansen VTF Labs has invested heavily in the proper equipment.

“If we were keeping everything in the systems the same, it would fail the calibration,” Yen explained. “The vehicle doesn’t know the height has changed but if you tell the software that the height of the camera has moved up X amount of distance, it will successfully calibrate.”

Of course, it’s not always so easy. A Toyota Prius was also equipped with a front radar unit hidden behind its grille emblem. After a collision, a repairer shopped for new emblems online and chose a low-cost replacement. But after the repair, the car would suddenly brake for no apparent reason during test drives. The Hansen VTF Labs crew was able to isolate the problem: The replacement part was an incorrect emblem that interfered with the radar, triggering the vehicle’s automatic emergency braking system.

According to Yen, that is an increasingly common pitfall confronting repairers and vehicle modifiers.

“As soon as you remove that emblem and the radar is connected to it, Toyota will recommend that it be recalibrated,” he said. “But [the repair shop techs] are probably not going to know that because they aren’t up to date with OEM position statements. They’re just doing a simple swap of a part and think everything’s fine.”

In another case, a DIY repair to a Mazda 3 with radar sensors mounted behind the rear bumper resulted in failed blind-spot warnings. Although the owner had properly realigned everything during bumper replacement, he reused the original sensor mounts, which appeared undamaged. However, the lab eventually determined that the mounts were imperceptibly bent. Fresh hardware fixed the problem.

Fender replacement on this Mazda 3 disrupted its rear radar unit, even though everything seemed aligned. Testing ultimately determined that an imperceptible bend in the sensor’s mounting bracket was throwing off blind-spot detection.

“A lot of these parts, especially radar units, are very prone to damage,” Yen said. “If you drop one, the OEMs will recommend just to replace it because something inside could have been messed up or damaged at that point and you won’t know until you try recalibrating the radar sensor.”

Those examples illustrate why OEMs are meticulous about their policies and procedures for repairing or replacing parts—and the potential liabilities of failing to follow them. A vehicle won’t necessarily throw a warning light or code to tell you when ADAS components are out of whack. Adding to the confusion, each OEM has different calibration procedures for each of its vehicle models. No wonder that numerous local bodyshops, including mom-and-pop operations, have turned to Hansen VTF Labs’ expertise in ADAS diagnostics.

“We’re definitely educating our local bodyshops,” Korkis said. “Not everyone knows about this yet—for example, windshield replacement businesses. Because there are so many features inside that glass, the cost has gone up just for the windshield glass itself. Now you have to add on [the costs of] additional calibration for that little lane camera that recognizes lane departure.”

Korkis makes final adjustments to the Autel unit for calibration. He will read the scan data from the diagnostic tablet he holds in his right hand. After calibration of the ADAS systems, the truck will go on a test drive to verify the systems perform correctly and safely.

Yen added that even used-car dealers who get their vehicles at auction are feeling the impact of ADAS.

“Not all cars are perfect at the auctions,” he explained. “Some have had some sort of hit in the corner or something. So they’ll buy it because it’s cheaper and fix it back up. We’ve visited many used-car lots to offer this service as well. Like anyone else, they’re not fully aware of these calibrations because there’s not necessarily a message on the dashboard that would tell you that your system is not working properly.”

Will the Hansen VTF Labs business model catch on? Chuck Hansen and his crew believe there’s a pressing need that will only grow with each advancing OE model year. They can envision many more calibration centers popping up soon to address that need for every type of aftermarket company that repairs, restores or modifies new and late-model vehicles. In the meantime, Hansen VTF Labs serves as another example of the specialty-equipment industry’s endless drive to innovate, try new things, and leverage emerging technologies.