Aftermarket February 2023

BY Michael Welch, CEO of TireBuyer T yre buying is now a fully digital process with tyres fitted right on the customer’s driveway at a time and place that suits their needs. How did we get here though? The answer, of course, is digital. It's not a secret that online purchasing has become more popular than ever and even tyre buying is moving into digital world. However, unlike regular consumer goods, the buying journey for tyre purchasing requires technical expertise to fit the purchased items once they arrive on the customer’s doorstep. Here, I will chart the growth of online tyre buying and its transformation to a ‘buy and fit’ market using mobile technology that is closing the gap on this last-mile disconnect. The UK tyre buying market will grow in the coming years on the back of rapid infrastructure growth and expanding automobile fleet sizes. To meet the growing demand by customers for tyre purchasing convenience means bringing together the customer tyre buying journey across an entire digital marketplace, but providing quick and convenient mobile fitting to customers is no small feat. There is clearly an as yet un-met need to provide an end-to-end online tyre buying experience for consumers. During the last 20 years, the development of mobile partnerships as part of the install network of tyre businesses has been extremely prevalent. Until now though, the tyre market has predominantly operated with customers buying tyres and having them shipped to their homes, then being left to take care of the install themselves or take them to a garage for fitting. With the mobile technology and business models available today, this last-mile disconnect can be addressed so that a customer can purchase their tyre of choice, and then schedule an install almost immediately in any county, city or town across the country. There should be no online vs physical divide. Technology takes centre- stage in tyre buying A key factor in powering this roll-out is the availability of supporting technology. For TireBuyer, this has meant leveraging existing technology with leading-edge mobile service technology that could underpin the smooth customer journey between online purchase, tyre distribution and mobile fitting provided by any of a network of installers nationwide. Online tyre buying and mobile service delivery is so much more 16 AFTERMARKET FEBRUARY 2023 BUSINESS www.aftermarketonline.net THE FUTURE OF TYRE-BUYING? How tyre buying and fitting is turning into a single seamless digital customer transaction