There is a lot of talk about how to create an online auto parts store, but little is written. This article is far from an exhaustive development guide, but it will be useful to those who are planning to create a workable online auto parts store for the first time or has managed to get frustrated with their slow site.
Creating an online spare parts store is difficult
If at least once in your life you have seen a normal price list of a major supplier, then you understand that this is not 10-20 thousand lines, but millions of commodity items. In order for the site to display your price, and not the wholesale price, and even in your native currency, and not in dollars, zlotys, yuan, etc., you need an extra charge algorithm. In order for you and your customers to choose the price and delivery time, you need a markup algorithm. To correctly select a spare part by brand / model / engine, a selection algorithm is required. In order to offer the client an analogue instead of the original – cross base. To make all this, as in principle, possible, you will need a complex online system connected to the TekDoc database, capable of working with a multimillion-dollar nomenclature, and not “some kind of website”; on “no matter what engine”.
Requirements for the site and developers
If you need an online store not for show, but for work, then a number of requirements should be made to the site and developers.
Go to site:
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A convenient and understandable interface for the user and the admin (this is when both the first and second can do without five sheets of instructions and the help of a consultant);
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Several options for selecting / searching for spare parts (not everyone knows how to use the TekDoc tree, select by the original number or make of a car);
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High speed of downloading prices or connecting a supplier via API (if you work with a large number of suppliers, updating prices will take a very long time);
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High page loading speed (slow sites infuriate users, and search robots don’t like them);
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The presence of functionality for SEO optimization (you need to think about search engine optimization at the development stage, because SEO begins with the structure. If someone says that it is too early or not necessary to think about SEO at the development stage, then he wants to make money a lot of money on improvements, which the SEOs will inform you about later);
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The ability to develop the project in case you want to add new features (in boxed solutions like Opencart and Bitrix, this is very difficult, in some cases it is impossible at all);
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Adequate cost of maintaining the site for a year (if you think that a site can be bought once and not spent again, you will be disappointed – you will have to invest regularly: paying for hosting, improvements, troubleshooting, etc.);
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Design not in the style of "pluck out the eye" (this is when the colors are combined and do not provoke visual shock, followed by moral trauma from what he saw)
To the developers:
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Experience and live projects (study the portfolio, and even better, talk to those whose sites are in it, because there are craftsmen who like to embellish );
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The availability and adequate price of technical support (10-30 bucks per hour for a consultation – it's tough, guys);
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Speed of response (if your appeal is not responded to for more than 48 hours, run away from there at the speed of light);
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The presence of a standard contract and consent to conclude it (if something goes wrong, you can always defend your interests in the legal field).
It does not matter at all where you go with these requirements, but you must voice them. Actually, there are two ways to go:
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Website development from scratch;
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Rent a turnkey solution.
Developing a parts website from scratch
Not everything that is called development can be considered as such. Attaching the finished TecDoc module to the boxed version of Opencart – this is not development, it does not need a programmer. Everything that you can get as a result of such screwing – it's a slow, shitty site that will never show up in the SERPs.
Development of a spare parts website from scratch – it's when you come to a developer, a normal one who knows how to notably figat PHP and say – I need a site with such and such functionality. The developer scratches the back of his head thoughtfully and replies:
А) if he has experience with autosites:
– Bringing your fantasies to life will take from a month to six months, it will cost from 2 to 20 thousand dollars, depending on what you fantasized about there, provided that we use a ready-made solution (i.e. an engine for an autosite) and achievements of previous years;
B) if he has no experience with autosites:
– I will create a website for you, which will have no analogues in the world. – And note that he is not lying – You will definitely not find another site so crooked and miserable. If you are accidentally lucky and the site is really suitable, then most likely it will take about 5-7 years to develop and it’s scary to imagine how much money.
Pros;
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You can express any wishes to the developer regarding the functionality, design, etc.;
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You will have access to the source code and be free to modify the site as you please;
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You and only you are responsible for the performance of the site, you can independently choose the hosting, programmer and other specialists for maintenance.
Cons:
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You may never get what you originally paid for;
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High maintenance costs (autosite will not be able to work on standard hosting, get ready to rent a dedicated server, the cost of which starts from 100 euros);
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Regular and VERY HIGH maintenance costs (if you plan to pay for development once, you are very much mistaken, because you can’t do without the help of specialized specialists, even if you swear in blood not to modify anything and not scale the project. There is always a force -majors from the series "something broke, fell off, hung" Feel free to add programmer services to hosting costs (20-30 dollars per hour, if you're lucky);
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You are tied to the developer and agree in advance with any cost of improvements. If you let every second freelancer in the code, ruin the site before it starts to make a profit.
To whom to entrust the development?
Worst of – find a freelancer who will have the first experience in this topic creating your online store.
Medium scall option – find a web studio of classic multi-stationers who "create sites of any complexity." Here you need to be especially vigilant.
If you are told:
A) Yes, we have experience in creating large sites, just yesterday we developed a site for tights/cosmetics/real estate;
B) Yes, we are specialists in high-load projects, we have developed a couple of forums that are regularly visited by 30 thousand people a month;
C) We have experience in creating car websites: we developed a website for a car dealership, an online tire store and a landing page for selling car mats.
Run!!! For the auto parts site – these are millions of pages, these are thousands of visitors per day, this is a structure that has no analogues. You can only trust studios when they show you a live, working, profitable online auto parts store, and not a "very similar site in a related topic."
The best option – immediately go to to those who develop autosites. These are specialized, highly specialized guys who have developments, documentation, ready-made solutions, on the basis of which you can cut what you want. But the main thing is that they have – this is an understanding of how the auto parts business works, an idea of how to implement functionality on the site tailored to solve your problems. They do not need to explain what TekDoc is and how crossover works, why you need a markup and how it should be done.
Rent a ready-made online spare parts store
Rent an online store – it's when you pay for a site every month and use a completely finished product that regularly gets better without your participation. You can call it in different ways: a platform, a SaaS solution, a site for rent, etc., - the essence of the matter does not change. In any case, you get a finished product with a certain functionality, focused on a specific niche, i.e. rigidly sharpened for the sale of spare parts.
Pros:
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Constant development (the developer is not scattered over several projects, but develops and improves one software core);
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Regular updates that you get for free (you don't have to ask anyone for anything, you just work and the features you need appear on their own);
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The experience of predecessors (ready-made solutions do not need to be tested, dozens of users have already done this for you);
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Small expenses on a strat in a low margin environment (i.e. you do not need to invest in development money that you have not earned yet);
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Complete absence of maintenance costs (the site is already hosted, which meets the technical requirements);
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Free technical support (if you have questions or you accidentally break the site, you won't have to pay 10-20 bucks per hour for advice and fixing your mistakes).
Cons:
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You don't have access to the source code (i.e. you can't calla crooked freelancer who will inexpensively add new features, connect suppliers and do SEO);
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You can't take your site and take it wherever you want (but the content posted on it is your property, protected by the Copyright Law, you are free to do whatever you want with it);
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You have to pay for individual improvements (if one of the SaaSers claims that any of your wishes will be implemented into the – system for free, do not believe it. New – functionality is always the result of feedback from dozens of platform users, but not the request of one smart guy)
How to choose a SaaS platform?
There are not so many companies offering to rent a website, but you still have to choose.
What to look for:
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Functionality (the rule "the more the better" does not work here, start from your tasks, do not pay for functionality that you do not need);
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Cost (the rental price should not greatly exceed the average annual cost of maintaining your own site);
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Availability of several tariff plans (on a stratum you need a minimum of functions – this is one money, when your business starts to grow, you will need to expand the functionality, for example, for SEO – this is another money);
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Availability of competent technical support (it is desirable that it really be competent);
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The number of sites running on the platform (it is unlikely that any SaaSers will give you a complete list of their clients, but you need to look at examples of sites);
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Reviews (do not trust the writings on the site, look for reviews from real people. Suitable: videos, posts on social networks, discussions on forums).
In no case can you say that rent is better than development, or vice versa. Rental and development – these are two parallel services, oriented to different target audiences, with different needs and tasks. Both solutions have advantages and disadvantages, but you should choose based on the scale of your business, tasks and your own ambitions.
Ambition in the auto parts business
For those who ask – how to create an online auto parts store for free the answer is ready in advance - NO! For the site to work, and the store to make a profit, you need to invest in it. If you are not ready for this – add an ad on auto.ria.com, spam the OLX board, look for price aggregators. Other ways to sell spare parts at no cost, alas, are unknown to mankind.
Those who want to create an online store like Exist, Autoklad, DOK, etc. worth realizing: website – not the cause of success, but just one of the tools to achieve it.
In addition to the site, these guys have well-established logistics, quality service and an assortment that you can’t scrape by the price lists of neighbors / colleagues / friends.
If today you are a director, and a manager, and an accountant, and a loader who got drunk and let the whole company down, you don't need such a site. Choose simpler and more affordable solutions.
If you have your own availability, well-established logistics, an army of managers who are ready to snatch orders from competitors with their teeth, a budget and a great desire to conquer the Internet, leave a request, we will do it no worse than Exist, Avtoklad or DOK ;)
