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Perhaps no single innovation has affected American culture more than the fast food concept. Not only are fast food restaurants present in every state, and virtually every city in the country, (both large and small), the fast food model of quick and convenient has become ingrained in the American psyche.

There are two ways to scale your online auto accessories business: reaching new customers, and retaining old ones. Find the sweet spot between these strategies, and you'll create a positive feedback loop that puts you on a continuous path toward success. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at SEO.

Recently I was talking with the owner of a dealer group about personalizaation. We talked about his team's desire to sell vehicle personalization across his 17 dealerships.  I talk with so many dealership owners that simply have a tough time motivating their team to sell BEYOND the vehicle. Many--maybe too many--accept this as “the way it is.”

This particular dealer principal's comment was simple: “We all like cars, and we all like the toys and accessories that go on cars. That’s why it’s such a fun business. If you can’t close your people on that, maybe you’re in the wrong business.”

When Carl Moyer of Karl Chevrolet decided to take on the tire store across the street, he and his team planned for success. But, they could have never predicted they would have made GM history by being the first dealership to sell $ 1 million dollars worth of tires in one year. Their success continued in the following years as they increased their tire sales from $1 million in 2009 to $3 million in 2011.  Not only does Karl Chevrolet present their customers with tire options, but they also offer tire and wheel accessories.  The dealership displays about 50 ready-to-sell accessorized vehicles and uses Insignia’s accessories system for selling accessories. 

Selling automotive parts and accessories on Facebook is a lot easier than you may think.

There are several tools and resources that can allow you to transform your company's Facebook page into an online selling machine. Here are a couple of resources that you’ll want to consider.

If you are in a dealership that has an accessories profit center, you already understand the revenue potential. Consumers are constantly looking for ways to personalize everything from electronics like iPads to automobiles. As a result, aftermarket is a billion dollar industry that continues to grow.
New products are popping up everywhere. It’s exciting for the dealership because it means more revenue opportunities. It can also be overwhelming to know how to present them. Here are the 5 most popular aftermarket accessories and word tracks to help you sell!

The accessories market is huge, and growing continually. We've discussed how the auto accessories market has now exceeds $30 billion and is continues to grow.  Not only are customers ready to spend money, they are evidently willing to spend a lot.  If a dealership can capture even a fraction of a percent of that $30 billion market it will dramatically improve dealership profits.US Auto dealers sold nearly 1.45 million cars and trucks in March of 2013, making it the best monthly sales total in 6 years.  While that's good news, the reality is profit margins are still razor thin. There are a couple of lessons that we can draw here:

Apple stores are one of the most successful retail stores in the world. According to The Mac Observer, one of their largest growing product segments is accessories. iPad owners average spending $150+ on accessories. Technology experts believe that if others want to compete, they'll have to partner with an accessories maker.

What do the decisions over the Fiscal Cliff Mean for Automotive Dealerships?

Car sales for 2012 ended at a high point.  Car makers are whistling in the wind a total of 14.5 million in sales. That’s 13 percent better than 2011, the best in five years. Perhaps better employment conditions and the average car on the road being more than 11 years old created the perfect storm for auto dealers’ sales to ride on the cloud nine of sales. 

I recently came across an article (below) suggesting that dealerships have beaten the F&I horse to death. When you look at alternate methods to increase profit margins, vehicle personalization ought to be at the top of your list. Just consider the  “make it my own”, “a la carte” world we live in.

According to SEMA, the specialty equipment market is a $30 billion market of which dealerships only capture about 3.9% of.  Using Insignia's proven process, one of our dealership customer exceeded $2.1 million in vehicle accessory sales last year. I know your first thought is “well, how many cars did they sell?” You'll have to take a look at the average number of cars you're dealership is selling to get an idea of what kind of personalization profits you could be raking in.