ECOMMERCE they abandon the cart . Then they call a store to confirm that the parts order is correct and they place the order over the phone ,” said Taylor Gerber , marketing manager at Johnson Tractor , an equipment dealer with nine locations across Wisconsin and Illinois . “ It ’ s more of a reference point 8 of 10 times for our customer base .”
Surveys we ’ ve done ( and conversations we ’ ve had ) in the last 12 months show that OPE dealers have mixed reactions to ecommerce . “ The trends are shifting more to dealers realizing they have to do something here ,” said Tony Zane , sales manager for Dealer Spike , a website solutions provider for equipment dealers . “ But can a dealer do enough marketing to compete with a Home Depot and its online marketing efforts ? Maybe not , but they can have a broader depth and breadth of OPE-specific parts , lawn mower blades , etc , compared to the big-box stores . And they have the expertise .”
“ That productive range and expertise gives a mom-and-pop shop the ability to compete with big stores outside of regular work hours ,” said Wyatt Dike , Dealer Spike product manager .
But how ; how do individual dealerships compete with the online ecommerce power of huge retailers ? They start by starting . Stihl has been an aggressive proponent of ecommerce , encouraging its thousands of U . S . dealers to enable online shopping .
“ We have been working to help dealers establish an online presence for many years ,” said Robert Jenson , Stihl ’ s director of ecommerce . “ Online transactions kicked off in 2019 , pre-pandemic . We are looking in the last few years to see how we can help dealers accelerate sales online . It ’ s a growing and important channel .”
Customer journey
Ecommerce did not create the idea of a “ customer journey ,” but digital shopping makes that journey traceable , like little bread crumb trails . “ When you think about the customer journey – awareness , consideration , conversion – we need to provide good experiences throughout ,” said Jenson . “ We look at website heat-mapping tools , learning where customers enter or exit the journey . If we drive the right customer satisfaction , they will vote with their credit card . We ’ re trying to provide personalized and relevant info across that journey .”
Jenson echoes the “ reasons why ” data . “ The convenience piece is a big part of it , shopping off of store hours ,” he said . “ Price , too ,
That ’ s why ecommerce is so valuable to us . Many people research online no matter where they buy , and we want to make that purchase as easy as possible .
TRISHA PEARSON BUSINESS DIRECTOR , IGNITE
Stihl recently refreshed its ecommerce dealer microsites for improved search functionality and to extend a visitor ’ s time on site . Not all Stihl dealers with microsites enable ecommerce .
is important for retail in general and for OPE . But the overall customer experience is key .”
Ignite Attachments launched in Nov . 2022 to target value customers , according to Trisha Pearson , business director for Ignite . “ That ’ s why ecommerce is so valuable to us . Many people research online no matter where they buy , and we want to make that purchase as easy as possible . And we sell both online and in store through our own dealer network . Pearson said that for all Ignite ecommerce sales , “ the bill-to is the dealer and the ship-to is the customer , just like they ’ re selling it off their lot .”
Value is important for Ignite shoppers but convenience is key too , said Pearson . “ We are increasingly aware of the amount of research people want to do before shopping . The value prop we have is we can fulfill the same day , and we can provide the expertise . No one needed another bucket manufacturer . The more we can be transparent to customers , the more dealers will want to work with us . We say that ecommerce lets us deliver the right fit at the right price right now .”
Convenience is king
“ Our customers , especially rural lifestyle or hobby farmers ,” said Gerber from Johnson Tractor , “ have come to expect Amazon-like service in the power equipment industry , which is light years behind in terms of offering an ecommerce solution that works as fast .”
“ We show dealership salespeople the time-saving opportuni-
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