Ecommerce solution boosts sales and revenue at Autosupplies
Chesterfield-based motor factor says WebTrade has enabled it to handle higher sales volumes with ease
Giving customers the ability to order parts online has helped increase sales and revenue for United Aftermarket Network member Autosupplies (Chesterfield). The company is using WebTrade, a B2B ecommerce solution that enables orders to be placed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
David Clarke, managing director of Autosupplies, described his decision to move to the system as "one of the best things he's done". The company has been able to increase the number of sales it can handle and accurately track volumes on a daily basis.
The move follows Autosupplies' decision to implement MAM's Autopart business management solution. WebTrade is directly integrated with Autopart, which allows David to manage stock and improve reporting across the business.
"Without WebTrade, our company would need to recruit two telesales staff to cope with the sheer number of orders we receive," said David.
The company processes as many as 200 orders per day through the WebTrade portal - around 1,000 individual items - so it is imperative to have an efficient, easy-to-use system in place. "The interface is user-friendly and accurate; it is way out in front of any other system we have ever used," noted David.
Autosupplies has 60 vans out on the road making deliveries and employs over 100 staff, so the company needed a system that would fit seamlessly into their operations.
A dedicated printer is linked up to the e-commerce platform, which prints any orders placed online. Separating these from counter and trade sales makes the process much simpler for the pickers and ensures products are delivered on time to the right place.
The staff at Autosupplies aren't the only ones benefiting from WebTrade. "Our customers love the online ordering system," David continued.
"We used to find that garages relied on our telesales staff to look up items on their behalf; now they are becoming familiar with the online system, they are increasing in confidence and picking up the phone less and less when placing their orders."
Mark Kendall, sales director at MAM Software, commented: "We created WebTrade to help automotive parts distributors and wholesalers improve their customer service and order processing efficiency.
"It's clear to see this is the case at Autosupplies, as they are already benefiting from increased revenue despite only using the system for a matter of months. We look forward to seeing their success continue."
WebTrade is designed to streamline the sales process by integrating directly with Autopart. Stock and pricing information is immediately available, allowing customers to place orders from any location with internet access, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
