18 minute read
Look to Twiter for a treasure trove of data to enhance your business
from Modern Tire Dealer - July 2015
by EndeavorBusinessMedia-VehicleRepairGroup
Look to Twitter for a treasure trove of data to enhance your business
One dealer’s philosophy: ‘Trow a lot of stuf against the wall and see what works’
By Joy Kopcha
Signing up to use Twiter is one thing. the number of times your Twiter profle Sending a tweet is another baby step. But was visited and the number of new folusing the social media network to draw lowers you picked up that month. Plus, atention to your business, engage with it tallies the reach of every tweet you your customers and ultimately measure sent (and calls it tweet impressions) and your results is another thing altogether. It counts how many times your handle was might sound frightening and intimidating, mentioned by others. but it doesn’t have to be. With that data alone you can set goals:
Spencer Carruthers owns Kenwood goals to increase how ofen you tweet and Tire Co. Inc. in West Bridgewater, Mass., to atract new followers. Plus with several a one store, three-bay tire dealership. He months, or years, worth of data, you can manages his business’ social media accounts scroll back in time to see your progress. and says it gives him a good picture of his Now, going back to the main menu business, and his customers. at the top of the page, the tweets screen
“It gives me some good insight. You get gives you even more data – for every single a good demographic of who’s looking at message. Te bar graph shows four weeks your site,” Carruthers says, noting he’d be of tweets and their collective impressions, dead wrong if he thought gearhead guys which is Twiter’s word for views. If the were the only ones watching. More than graph shows lots of peaks and valleys, it half of his followers are women. “I just Arfa Syed says sharing images on means you aren’t achieving consistency. throw a lot of stuf against the wall and Twitter is key. Research shows tweets Below the graph is an analysis for every see what works.” with images receive 18% more clicks tweet, one message at a time. Click on the
Tat might not sound scientifc, but it’s and 150% more retweets. ‘view tweet details’ to see even more – how exactly what Twiter experts like Arfa Syed suggest. Syed is the many clicked on a link, retweeted or favorited the message, digital and social media manager at the Auto Care Association, expanded the details or shared it via email. and she wants others to share Carruthers’ give-it-a-try mentality. Syed likes another option on that screen. “You have the
“Twiter has one of the most user-friendly, back-end analytics ability to export data to keep track of any campaigns.” and ads platforms,” Syed says. “Being socially connected to And, to determine what kind of people are following your your customers in real time becomes easier and seamless.” Twiter account, click on the followers screen from the main
Yes, there are tools you can install and professional social menu. Te audience insights page and its submenus show media frms you can pay to measure your reach on any platform. everything from gender and general interests to the state where Twiter, however, has its own free, easy-to-use page to see the your followers live and what kinds of television shows they numbers. Go to analytics.twiter.com and log in with your like to watch. An added beneft is you can look at all of those Twiter user name and password. Look for the menu across stats, and more, for the Twiter universe as a whole, and then the top of the page. Te frst three menu options (home, tweets compare the big picture to your followers. and followers) are full of tons of data to get started. Here’s a Tis is all more than just random information, Syed says. “Tis quick overview of what you’ll fnd. is invaluable as you tailor your content to be most meaningful.”
On the home screen, Twitter gives you a snapshot for And remember, this is all the free stuf. each month. It highlights your top tweet – the one seen by If you want to “pay to play,” as Syed calls it — or buy advertisthe most people, your top mention – the most popular tweet ing on Twiter — there’s another world of help available. She that mentions your Twiter handle (Modern Tire Dealer’s is @ suggests visiting ads.twiter.com, a platform that walks you mtdmagazine), your top follower – the most popular account step-by-step from goals to execution of an advertising campaign. that follows you, and fnally your top media tweet, which is “Twiter ofers free ad credits occasionally to start, and has your most popular tweet that features a photo. Te monthly ads experts that are willing to hop on the phone with you once report also features a summary of the number of tweets sent, you show interest.” ■
Burning issues: Tarifs, online sales, tight margins
Dealers on the Modern Tire Dealer 100 continue to risk, invest and remain confdent in their businesses
By Ann Neal
The independent dealers on this year’s Modern Tire Dealer 100 are fnding ways to grow in the face of government regulation, changing consumer buying habits and economic uncertainty. Over the last 12 months, they have endured tarifs imposed on Chinesemade tires and an unexpected source of online competition. MTD asked dealers for their thoughts on these new threats as well as steps they are taking to improve their proftability. But before we look at their responses to these issues, we’ll look at the most visible evidence of their growth: new outlets.
More stores in more markets
Two of the biggest dealers in terms of stores grew signifcantly over the last 12 months. Reinalt-Tomas Corp. added 23 This image shows the interior design planned for the three Belle Tire stores schedlocations to its chain of Discount Tire and uled to open in Indiana by early fall of 2015. The stores will be Belle Tire’s frst in the Indiana market. All the stores are new construction. In addition, the company plans America’s Tire stores to top the list at 900 to complete renovations of its Michigan and northern Ohio retail locations by 2018. outlets. New stores were opened in a dozen states: Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Texas, California, South Carolina, Tennessee, stores operated by Tire Engineers LLC, also of Birmingham. Arizona and Ohio. Next to be acquired were Epperly Tire and Auto Centers (four
Monro Mufer Brake Inc. fueled its expansion by acquiring stores) in 2014, Upton Tire Pros (four stores), Trax Tires Tire other dealers, including former list makers Hennelly Tire & Pros (10 stores) and Savannah Tire, Brake and Alignment Auto Inc. and Martino Tire Co. In all, Monro added 63 tire Centers (nine stores) in 2015. Te acquisitions total 34 tire stores for a total of 490 and the No. 3 spot. Te fourth largest stores, which operate under a wholly-owned subsidiary, Tire retailer is Les Schwab Tire Centers Inc., which added seven Engineers LLC, and retain their original names and brand stores to bring its total to 389 outlets. Mavis Tire Supply identities. Te company also added tire-related sales and Corp., which does business as Mavis Discount Tire, added 21 service to its 102 Express Oil Change and Service Center locations through a combination of greenfeld projects and outlets. Tose stores are in the process of being rebranded acquisitions. Te Millwood, N.Y., company, which has operaas Express Oil Change and Tire Engineers. In addition, the tions in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, company has 108 franchise stores. is No. 5 in the ranking with 167 stores. Somerset Tire Service Also growing mainly through acquisitions is ATV Inc., which Inc., which added fve stores for a total of 155 outlets, is No. does business as American Tire Depot in Southern California. 6 in the ranking. Te La Mirada-based company added 14 outlets to hold the
New to both the Modern Tire Dealer 100 and to tire retailNo. 13 spot with 82 stores. Five stores were opened in the frst ing is Express Oil Change LLC, which debuts at No. 7 with fve months of 2015 alone. 136 stores. Founded in 1981 as an oil change provider, the McCarthy Tire Service Co. grew its footprint by seven Birmingham, Ala.-based chain entered the tire business two locations with the acquisitions of Terry-Haggerty Tire Co. years ago. In 2013, Express Oil Change purchased seven tire of Albany, N.Y., Commercial Truck Tire Center of Syracuse,
N.Y., Hartman Fleet Services Inc. of Manassas, Va., and Ragan propelled Heartland Tire Inc. onto the list for the frst time. Tire Group LLC of Concord, N.C. With 49 commercial tire Te Brainerd, Minn.-based company is tied for No. 91 with stores, McCarthy ranks No. 23. 12 stores. Bauer Built Inc. acquired Central Tire & Tread Inc. Te purchase of three Galaxy Auto Centers and two Goodyear of Lexington, Neb., and opened three locations near Chicago Tire and Service stores in the Minneapolis, Minn., metro area and one in Wisconsin to expand its presence in those areas. Te new locations brought Bauer Built, which is headquartered in Durand, Wis., to 35 outlets and the No. 32 spot. Cincinnati, Ohio-based Tire Discounters Inc. also added fve retail stores to land in the No. 9 spot with 94 outlets. Te company plans 12 to 14 new stores in the coming year, with four set to open in the Chatanooga, Tenn., area in the fall of 2015. Sixteen dealers added one or two stores. Black’s Tire Service Inc., based in Whiteville, N.C., opened two outlets. “Te stores take a lot of overhead to open; we do it to build our service,” says Rick Benton, vice president. “With margins on tires we are trying to trim costs where we can, but it’s hard because we’re all about service.” Black’s Tire is in the No. 30 spot with 37 combination commercial/retail outlets. Black’s Tire Service’s new training center includes areas for training on equipment Te dealer in the No. 2 spot with 769 and a mock showroom for retail training as well as a conference center. Completed in October 2014, the facility is next to the company’s headquarters in Whiteville, N.C. outlets, TBC Corp., says it plans to add eight to 10 stores in the next year. “TBC
Corp. is well-positioned for sustainable growth; we’ll continue to seek out opportunities that make the most sense for our brands and our customers,” says Dino Medina, vice president of construction and facilities operations.
Burning issue: Tarifs
Te ability of any retailer to service customers hinges on product availability. “When a customer comes in, you’ve got to have something for them that day, and it’s our job to fgure out how to do that,” says Sam Forbes, president of Peerless
Tyre Co. Te Denver-based company is tied for No. 17 with 57 Peerless Tires 4 Less stores in seven states.
Tat job became harder for some dealers in November 2014 when the U.S. government imposed tarifs on tires made in China. “Te tarifs just cause confusion in the marketplace with no particular net gain in my opinion,” says Forbes. “From where it hits us, we’ve had difculty. You have to struggle to fnd other suppliers. When anybody’s down it puts pressure on the rest of the vendors. Te Laufenn brand we brought in to replace the Fuzion. It just tightens up supply.” Te tarifs also led to pricing uncertainty that caused a lot of issues, according to Bill Ziegler, president of Ziegler Tire & Supply Co. “When the tarif was frst announced it caused some supply issues as some of the large wholesalers and retailers tried to pre-buy inventory. We have tried to deal with the more reputable suppliers so as to be more protected.” Te Massillon, Ohio-based company is tied for No. 51 with 24 outlets. Plaza Tire Service Inc., which is tied for the No. 19 spot with 56 outlets, is adjusting its marketing plan in response to the tarifs, according to Mark Rhodes, president. “I personally have plenty of inventory, but the tarif has created a lot of changes in our product screens. Te uncertainty of what’s going to fll the product screens in the future creates a lot of changes in the marketing plan. You used to be able to have one line of tires in stock indefnitely. Now it may be this brand for fve months, and this brand for six months.” Other dealers report litle impact from the tarifs. “On the supply side we haven’t seen much change because there was a lot of purchase ahead of the tarif kicking in,” says Avo Kamberian, vice president of marketing for No. 13-ranked ATV Inc., which operates 82 American Tire Depot stores in Southern California. He says the strikes at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., afected the supply chain more than the tarifs. The tariffs led to some net price increases but declining oil prices ofset signifcant impact, according to Kamberian. “Te oil prices have come down drastically and therefore the cost of products has come down at the same time so that allowed all the manufacturers to lower their cost structures despite increasing the price because of the tarifs. So overall, there was some price increase. It’s brand by brand obviously, but the efect in the overall market at the end of the day is negligible.”
Nick Phillippi, general manager of Nebraskaland Tire Co. Inc., says the tarifs have not afected Nebraskaland Tire, Kansasland Tire, and Coloradoland Tire stores. “We did lose our opening price point lineup and had to adjust our entry level tires downward a litle to maintain that business.” Te Lexington, Neb.-based company is No. 28 with 40 stores.
Te impact of the tarifs on supply was minimal at Tireman Auto Centers, according to Randy Jones, who is president of the Toledo, Ohio-based dealership. “We had purchased in advance and had our bases covered. On the pricing side the impact has been minimal as well. We anticipated that there would be greater increases. We have not found that to be the case yet.” Te company’s 19 retail stores put it at the No. 58 spot.
TBC Corp. rebranded 64 Tire Kingdom locations across six states to NTB Tire and Service Centers. The rebranding initiative included an exterior refresh and interior redesign. TBC operates more than 400 NTB retail locations.
Burning issue: Online sales
Dealers faced a new challenge when Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. began selling tires direct to consumers through its website in May 2015. “It takes the tire sale away from the independent dealer and makes us just an installation point,” says Jason Williams, executive vice president of Jack Williams Tire Co. Inc., in Scranton, Pa. “We are tire dealers, not installation points for manufacturers and online sellers.” Te company is tied for No. 35 with 31 outlets.
David Mickelson, vice president of Graham Tire Co., says he understands Goodyear’s reasoning for going direct to consumers but he is disappointed that current Goodyear dealers and Tire Service Network (TSN) dealers do not have a priority in the program. “It makes me question why we pay TSN dues. We will need to place our pricing online to remain competitive, and I believe that the end result will be that the act of purchasing tires is only going to be about price rather than features and benefts. I also believe that in the long run, this will have an adverse efect on the number of Goodyear tires sold.” Graham Tire has 29 outlets in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota and is tied for No. 38.
At least two dealers expect more manufacturers to begin online tire sales. “Michelin will be doing the same thing in the
But that could change. “Te hand wringing from where I’m siting is that if Goodyear pulls this of, all the manufacturers will be doing it.”
Paul Couture, president of Mesa, Ariz.-based Paragon Enterprises Inc., which does business as Advanced Auto Service & Tire Centers, says he is participating despite some objections. “In efect, we and other dealers have competed with manufacturers and suppliers since I started in business 26 years
ATV Inc. has opened fve American Tire Depot stores in Southern California so far in 2015. ago with corporate stores
The new stores are in Diamond Bar (pictured), Downey and Torrance in Los Angeles and other areas. In many
County, Laguna Niguel in Orange County, and Yucca Valley in San Bernardino County. ways this continues along the same lines.” Te Mesa, near future. We will monitor how this manufacturer Internet Ariz.-based company has 14 stores to tie for the No. 77 spot. marketing works out. It is defnitely not good for the indepenBenton points out that Goodyear is involving its dealers dent dealer,” says Rusty Coats, operations director for Bore/ in the program and steering business to them. “As long as MPC LLC, which does business as Big O Tires in Missouri we fnd ways to keep the tires proftable, it’s OK. We need to and Arkansas. Te company is tied for the No. 77 spot with 14 drive more proft back to the dealers. We’ve got to stay with stores. Forbes says Peerless Tires 4 Less stores do not do busicurrent trends. We know the trend is toward the Internet. Te ness with Goodyear, so there’s no direct efect at this moment. Internet is a necessary evil, but we’ve got to make it good for
the dealers. Dealers’ costs are going up, not down, so we’ve got to fnd ways to drive more proft to dealers.”
Burning issue: Tight margins
To help boost their margins, dealers invested in stores, technology and training. “We are adding a new store, upgrading equipment and implementing a technical training program with an on-site tech trainer and training facility,” says Jim Ramsey, CEO and president of Lamb Ventures LP, which does business as Lamb’s Tire & Automotive. Te Austin, Texas-based company opened its newest store in June for a total of 15 outlets and a tie for No. 71 in the ranking.
Training has become a vital part of the business model at Graham Tire, according to Jen McCann, marketing coordinator for the company’s Minnesota and Iowa stores. Graham also is implementing customer relationship management sofware for its sales force and focusing on digital marketing to increase trafc to its website as well as its stores. “Our company is always working to increase proftability, though we know it really has more to do with the small steps we do to improve individuals who work for Graham.”
Training is essential at Tireman Auto Service Centers as well. Dramatic improvements to the on boarding process lead to a quicker ramp-up for new employees, says Jones. “We are using Web-based applications for training as well as using tablets that can verify learning.” Te company is also remodeling older stores and improving its mobile applications for online shoppers.
Te Benton family opted to increase the skills and knowledge of its employees in order to help improve the proftability of Black’s Tire Service. “Our business is our people, so we try to fnd ways to be efcient and innovative, it’s a daily challenge,” says Benton. “It’s hard to do so much cost-cuting. If you are service, what do you cut?”
Black’s Tire Service chose to invest in its people, and the BTS Training Academy opened in October 2014. Te approximately 6,200-square-foot facility houses conference and training areas and a retail showroom. Employees from the company’s stores as well as its wholesale dealer partners participate in sales, equipment and safety training.
“It’s a big investment up front, but we’ve already seen beter morale in our dealers. We’re giving back to them and giving them opportunities to train at no cost to them. Training helps us get more efcient and reduces turnover. It lets people know we’re investing in them for the future, and that means a lot to them,” says Benton. ■
Other sources for tires Tires are available for purchase from seemingly endless sources outside the independent dealer channel. Here are some of the largest providers of consumer tires.
BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc.
147 of BJ’s 206 stores have tire centers. Brands: Michelin, BFGoodrich, Uniroyal
Costco Wholesale Corp.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Nearly 2,500 of 3,400 supercenters and 471 discount stores have a tire and lube center. Brands: Nitto, Kumho, General Tire, Goodyear, Michelin, Douglas Tires (a Walmart private brand made by Goodyear), Dunlop and Bridgestone; Walmart says its assortment of brands varies by store.
Sam’s Club
Kmart and Sears
979 Kmart stores and 717 Sears stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Seven Sears Auto Centers operate in Kmart stores. 668 Sears Auto Centers operate in association with, out of or independently of Sears stores. Brands: Goodyear, Michelin, Continental, Kumho, Dunlop, Hankook, BFGoodrich, General, Uniroyal, Nankang, Nanco, Riken
Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack
803 locations in 35 states and Puerto Rico. Brands: BFGoodrich, Continental, Cooper, Falken, Hankook, Michelin, Pirelli, Carlisle
