ACDelco Promotes Electronic Commerce and Marketing at 2nd Annual e-Business Forum

The electronic landscape is continually evolving; constantly changing technologies mean additional solutions are always available. To help auto parts retailers stay current with the latest trends to succeed in the marketplace, ACDelco – a leader in providing e-Business solutions to the automotive aftermarket – recently hosted its second-annual e-Business Forum.

The ACDelco e-Business Forum, in Dallas, showcased ACDelco’s comprehensive electronic business solutions under one roof and at one time. ACDelco Warehouse Distributors (WDs) and ACDelco personnel, along with a number of aftermarket system providers – including WHI (formerly Wrenchead), Activant, MechanicNet, and Mitchell 1 – met for this two-day conference with a focus on e-Commerce and e-Marketing.

“The Internet is changing our lives and the way we do business,” said Stephen Sigg, ACDelco e-Business manager. “The ACDelco e-Business Forum provides a great way to learn about leveraging this technological revolution.”

In addition to showcasing ACDelco’s e-Business solutions, the ACDelco e-Business Forum focused on e-Commerce strategies, such as an inventory planning guide, digital marketing, customer relationship marketing, electronic promotions, sales reporting tools, customizing data and updates on ACDelco’s Web sites.

“The Forum reinforced our message that ACDelco is in e-Business to help sell auto parts, not to sell systems,” Sigg added. “A lot of people are out there just to sell software, and that’s not what ACDelco is about. We’re looking at the Internet as a platform to help our customers sell more auto parts, and everything we do revolves around that goal.”

To that end, ACDelco used its Forum to announce several enhancements to its e-Business offerings, all with the intent of helping to grow ACDelco’s and its customers’ mutual business:
• ACDelco WISE Internet Parts (WIP) users now have product information links available to them. These links provide technical and other related information on several ACDelco product lines.
• ACDelco WIP users also now have related-parts information available to them in the ACDelco Air Conditioning line. These recommended and required parts listings help facilitate the repair process.

• ACDelco Web Integrated Service Environment (WISE) and WIP users now have an e-Promotions Dashboard available to them. The dashboard tracks, in “real time,” ACDelco and WD e-Promotions and provides users with their purchase history. Additionally, the e-Promotions WD administration page allows ACDelco WDs to run their own e-Promotions for ACDelco WISE and WIP users.
• An Inventory Planning Guide is now available that helps determine what inventory fits each WD’s individual business model and is customized to each WD’s market.

The ACDelco e-Business Forum also included Town Hall / Cyber Café sessions to address specific questions and issues, as well as to share ideas for continuous improvement and opportunities. An open session shared techniques on how to manage e-customers, launch e-Promotions and leverage the increasing data available.

“This year we’ve really involved marketing more than in the past,” Sigg said. “Our organization is embracing electronic technology more, and our customers are embracing it more, so it led to e-Promotions.”

Reggie Jose, general manager of Coach & Motor in Clinton Township, Mich., an ACDelco WD, attended his second ACDelco e-Business Forum, while Tom Kriplean, business application specialist for U.S. Tire & Exhaust in Combined Locks, Wis., another ACDelco WD, was new to the conference.

“We found the e-Business Forum to be very informative, one of the better events that ACDelco puts on,” Jose said “The two-day conference gave us that whole first evening to talk with people, and you can learn a lot more after the sessions.”

“I’m new to the ACDelco WD world, so it was very valuable to get an understanding of all the e-Commerce solutions that they offer and how they interrelate and work together,” Kriplean said. “It was a great way to get a general education on all the e-Commerce products ACDelco offers.”

“Of all the off-site presentations that I’ve gone to, this was definitely well worth the time to go,” Kriplean added. “A lot of times you wonder whether it’s worth the time away from the office, but I had no questions in my mind that those few days were time well-spent.”

Both Kriplean and Jose feel ACDelco’s e-Promotions can help to build their respective businesses.

“The e-Promotions portion was very exciting, something we had been looking for from an e-Commerce perspective over the past several years,” Kriplean said. ”We either didn’t have the funds or the skill sets to build that, so it’s definitely something we will utilize and take advantage of.”

“We’re going to be feeling our way as we go into it,” Jose said. “We certainly are looking forward to creating our own promotions on the local level.”

An example of ACDelco’s e-Promotions — and one more reason to subscribe to its WISE and WIP e-Business tools — is its 2007 “Summer Solstice” promotion that runs through August 31. Registered customers are eligible to participate in this promotion that rewards users for incremental purchases of ACDelco products. One lucky winner will drive away with the Grand Prize: a 2008 Pontiac Solstice. Visit acdelcotechconnect.com for additional details. Or, to arrange for a conference with an ACDelco e-Business specialist, contact the WISE Help Desk at 1-800-825-5886, prompt 3.