Car Auto Parts Guide

The site was ranked number one among auto parts sites and is ranked seventh among all automotive sites.

Michelle Quinn, Vice President of consumer marketing for CarParts.com said, "Our goal is to offer the widest selection of product available and to make it easy to locate and order those parts." Third-party evaluations from both consumers and net ratings indicate the company is on the right track as the site continues to expand offerings and build its consumer base.

PC Data Online of Santa Monica, Calif., one of three Internet ranking services to rate CarParts.com No. 1 among automotive parts sites, recorded an increase in monthly unique visits of more than 1,100 percent since it began tracking the site in July 1999. PC Data Online is the largest Internet usage panel in the industry, tracking the Web sites visited and the duration of those visits by more than 120,000 participants.

Of the leading bricks-and-mortar companies such as CSK, O'Reilly and Pep Boys, PC Data reported that in June none recorded data, meaning there were fewer than 80,000 site visits. In fact, of the top 20 sites listed, CarParts.com was the only aftermarket retailer that made the list. Other internet monitoring services ranking CarParts.com number one include the Nielsen NetRanking Report and Media Metrix.

CarParts.com has attracted more than twice the number of unique visitors as its two nearest competitors combined in eight of the last nine months, according to Nielsen, which collects real-time data from more than 65,000 panel members.

The company as also received high marks in customer satisfaction. The site recently received a four-star rating from BizRate.com, an independent rating guide that surveys millions of consumers regarding their on-line buying experience. BizRate is an unbiased, independent rating guide built on the experience of millions of actual on-line buyers.

The BizRate survey asked CarParts customers to rate the site for 10 different categories: ease of ordering, product selection, product information, price, Web site design, on-time delivery, product presentation, customer support, privacy policies, and shipping and handling. Although no site has ever received a five- star rating, CarParts received four for overall ease of ordering, service and selection.

Among the bricks-and-mortar competitors, several have sites and offer e-commerce. Industry experts do agree selling automotive parts on line is good for retailers if they can properly manage the back-end business. Unlike such items as clothing where consumers feel they must be able to handle the merchandise before making a purchasing decision, auto parts are relatively low in the "look and feel" department. Consumers are willing to buy them without having to touch them.

Competition may come from CSK and Advanced Auto Parts, two competitors who have joined forces to create the yet-to-be-launched PartsAmerica.com. In a joint venture between the two retailers, the site has been created to serve both the consumer and commercial markets.

CSK's partner in PartsAmerica doesn't offer e-commerce on it's site so the company will enjoy the benefits of only having to maintain one web presence. O'Reilly Automotive offers stock keeping units (skus) comparable to its competitors, but more significantly it offers free shipping for orders more than $100. While auto parts make for good sales, the problem is shipping, because auto parts tend to be heavy and expensive to ship. AutoZone, the No. 1 bricks-and- mortar retailer has an impressive Web presence but won't begin selling parts until early fall, the company said. The strategy is to combine the two companies' store base of 2,700 throughout most of the United States and build the business on the companies' existing consumer base. The two companies enjoy an annual combined marketing budget of more than $100 million and approximately four million consumers who visit CSK and Advanced stores each week.