[digitalnirvana]

Originally Posted by supertinu

This is news for me, but how good is the installation quality?

I have never availed it, but here are the details http://www.snapdeal.com/offers/car-audio-installation - perhaps someone on here who has used can give a review

[Vinay Stanley]

Its interesting to put across the online portals as a threat to local accessory shops due to the following factual reasons

1) India is not a DIY culture, yes labor is cheap, installation is critical.
2) Online shop fronts in India are costlier (37-43%*) and sell dubious stuff (78%*). A basic listing of stuff on portal vs Opera house pricing will point the fact. The online demographics of Indian portal is more of a valuation system (Fictitious Turnover vs factual profits) unlike international (e.g. US) where the reverse auction and factual trading is the only way to run portal.
3) Warranty is a critical issue.

The key aspect why the local accessory business is dwindling is they are pop&mom business, and don't stock fresh and new inventory, and are more keen on keeping running products and doing the basic installation. Today's customer sees or reads of a new equipment on dx.com etc and hunts for it in a local market, which disappoints him.


One critical aspect is technology integration and dependence on embedded electronics in all new generation cars. Offtopic :In my last visit to UAE at a cement plant an year back ,I saw about 500 of good earth moving equipment's lying abandoned due to minor repairs as today all these systems have a strict remote maintenance control cycle and tone down periodic shutdowns. The Chinese were having a field day, exporting their tons of substandard equipment as they were mostly relay based control systems with easy and cheaper control and service mechanism.

* These figures though unofficial come from my close acquaintance and relatives who head a few international VC & angel funding boards, and every dinner talk ends on the dubious functioning of Indian portals to keep the valuation chain up and keep the ads running though no viable business models exists.

[Zahoor23]

Due to the advent of e-commerce, it is certainly true that the local accessory shops have been affected but most of the consumers still prefer to see-it-and-buy-it. Few years ago the shop owners had to stock huge inventories for the customer to visually see the product before buying, but with the emergence of mobile technology(read whatsapp) dealers are storing the pictures of various products which consume a good amount of space(eg. alloys) and show it to the customers visiting their shop and get it from their warehouse after a customer likes a particular product(s).
RESULT -> reduction in inventory = storage space for other products = better profits.

[Torino]

Hi All.
Even though the online auto accessories are the choice of many due to vast reasons, in Chennai I see there is a rapid increase in number of auto accessories shop in the past one year and some of these retail shops have also recently opened branches in the city. I am not sure if these shops sustain their business by also being sellers in online e-commerce websites, but some of these shops do have organised website and this makes me believe that they could play a role with the e-commerce giants. In the southern part of Chennai where I live, I have seen at least 15 new retail shops in the past one year. I think the major selling products for the retail shops are all accessories which requires professional installation.
The car industry is continuously growing and there is a increasing trend in customers purchasing automobile related products and services and I think the retail accessories shop will grow along side the e-commerce portals.

[saurabh041086]

I was wondering if something comes up with best of both the worlds. An E Commerce site that provides you with an online inventory with the ease of your nearest retailer. There are quite a number of accessories which we still like to get installed at nearby shop. So how will this be?

[devilwearsprada]

Originally Posted by saurabh041086

I was wondering if something comes up with best of both the worlds. An E Commerce site that provides you with an online inventory with the ease of your nearest retailer. There are quite a number of accessories which we still like to get installed at nearby shop. So how will this be?

Pretty tough, have tried an app to link retailers but the installation levels of most aren't upto the mark and the profit margin is low.

[saurabh041086]

Originally Posted by devilwearsprada

Pretty tough, have tried an app to link retailers but the installation levels of most aren't upto the mark and the profit margin is low.

Can you please elaborate a bit more.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by saurabh041086

E Commerce site that provides you with an online inventory with the ease of your nearest retailer.

That is the new business model of Justdial. On searching for a product, it now displays product info and then connects buyer to sellers in same locality.

E.g.: Searching for Pioneer Stereo displays individual products and later connects sellers.

[devilwearsprada]

Originally Posted by saurabh041086

Can you please elaborate a bit more.

So, before I ventured into ECommerce Development and a startup of my own, I wanted to try a service where people could buy items off the shelves of retailers offline, through the online model wherein they would save on cost and would save on compromise on quality.

The problems that exist:

1. Offline Retailers tend to earn majority on labour charges and bad quality products which they often sell at 2X-3X profit.
2. Bad quality labour in most cities would render bad reviews for the Tieup and the Face company.
3. Unlike the Model for Uber for X, AirBnB, the quality levels are not consistent as the service providers will not allow the tieup company to provide for trainings, and the Quality Adherence is pretty low.
4. For most part, people will later go to the shop cutting off the Ecommerce Site, as the opportunity cost is lost.
5. Unlike Uber/AirBnb, you rely on local shops which want to tie up with the customer directly cutting the middle man.

I still believe a model of service at home will be majorly opportunistic but then again the fear exists. For most stores, reviews are hurting and when people often use Forums to put a largely negative review as a personal hatred which takes down the owner's motivation to provide more.
This is the whole Startup Chasm!

[razor4077]

Amazon has started selling services online for audio installations, tyre fitment, roadside assistance etc. I see that Axa is the service provider. Tad expensive, but it's an interesting and new concept. If this is of a good standard, then it should allay the doubts of those (including myself) who are tempted by the lower rates online but aren't sure about how to get these fitted. Many accessory stores won't fit externally procured stuff.

Link: http://www.amazon.in/b/ref=s9_acss_b...d_i=4772060031

Has anyone used this?

[HighwayofLife]

I used only one service provider who gave home service, and that was to fit seat covers in my friend's car. And that was not from an e-commerce retailer. As I've said earlier in the thread, DIY or home installs are well and good for run of the mill stuff. For anything more high-end, you need quality installers. And that's where places like Motor Concept in Delhi will beat any online retailer hands-down

[Accent Martin]

Recently I had visited such a shop to get my car's old music system, speakers, and floor mats replaced. Now, this visit is my first after having owned the car for more than 6 years. Even my old tires were replaced at Hyundai itself. I didn't want any work to be done on my car outside of authorized service centers. could this be a common thought process in everyone's mind resulting in lesser footfalls at the accessory shops?
Not a big fan of online shopping as for me the touch and feel factors attribute in buying decisions; so dropped in to the accessory store.
Looks like Auto accessory shops can nowadays cater only to replacement business.

[saurabh041086]

Originally Posted by devilwearsprada

So, before I ventured into ECommerce Development and a startup of my own, I wanted to try a service where people could buy items off the shelves of retailers offline, through the online model wherein they would save on cost and would save on compromise on quality.

The problems that exist:

1. Offline Retailers tend to earn majority on labour charges and bad quality products which they often sell at 2X-3X profit.
2. Bad quality labour in most cities would render bad reviews for the Tieup and the Face company.
3. Unlike the Model for Uber for X, AirBnB, the quality levels are not consistent as the service providers will not allow the tieup company to provide for trainings, and the Quality Adherence is pretty low.
4. For most part, people will later go to the shop cutting off the Ecommerce Site, as the opportunity cost is lost.
5. Unlike Uber/AirBnb, you rely on local shops which want to tie up with the customer directly cutting the middle man.

I still believe a model of service at home will be majorly opportunistic but then again the fear exists. For most stores, reviews are hurting and when people often use Forums to put a largely negative review as a personal hatred which takes down the owner's motivation to provide more.
This is the whole Startup Chasm!

Even i am contemplating something like this. But to what extent this unorganized sector can be organized and by what means/method still remains the big question. However there are still very few such portals/service providers which integrate both. It may be due to many reasons(including these listed by you as well).
It was a nice discussion guys. thanks for the inputs.

[Jeroen]

let me give a perspective from outside India. Mainly based of having lived in (western) Europe and USA.

I dont have any statistics at hand, but the local accessory shop is certainly still very much around. There are also massive exhibitions around all sort of modifications to cars. Of course the USA have their hot rod scene, but even in the USA in most places you will find auto accessory shops just about everywhere.

I do believe that as stated by various members, the DYI culture is different in India compared to some other countries and that might explain some.

Most accessoires shops would focus on the following groups of products:

- Parts, mostly generic (e.g. brake pads, filters, fuel pump, plugs etc)
- consumables, such as oil, coollant, fuses, light bulbs etc
- tools
- cleaning and polishing (absolute massive, totally overwhelming selection)
- batteries

Some places might specialize in certain things such as alloys. What has all but disappeared, apart from very specialized shops, is audio equipment. They might still stock the odd car radio, but it is on a completely different scale then 10-15 years ago. Most cars these days come with a good audio system factory installed of course.

I'm sure you can get just about anything these days on line in the USA and Europe. However, even though I buy a lot on line, this is one area where I usually like to visit a shop. Fiddling with my cars is my hobby so going to these shops is actually fun and I always end up buying more stuff then I set out for.

Jeroen

[saurabh041086]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

let me give a perspective from outside India. Mainly based of having lived in (western) Europe and USA.

I dont have any statistics at hand, but the local accessory shop is certainly still very much around. There are also massive exhibitions around all sort of modifications to cars. Of course the USA have their hot rod scene, but even in the USA in most places you will find auto accessory shops just about everywhere.

I do believe that as stated by various members, the DYI culture is different in India compared to some other countries and that might explain some.

Most accessoires shops would focus on the following groups of products:

- Parts, mostly generic (e.g. brake pads, filters, fuel pump, plugs etc)
- consumables, such as oil, coollant, fuses, light bulbs etc
- tools
- cleaning and polishing (absolute massive, totally overwhelming selection)
- batteries

Some places might specialize in certain things such as alloys. What has all but disappeared, apart from very specialized shops, is audio equipment. They might still stock the odd car radio, but it is on a completely different scale then 10-15 years ago. Most cars these days come with a good audio system factory installed of course.

I'm sure you can get just about anything these days on line in the USA and Europe. However, even though I buy a lot on line, this is one area where I usually like to visit a shop. Fiddling with my cars is my hobby so going to these shops is actually fun and I always end up buying more stuff then I set out for.

Jeroen

Absolutely, DIY culture is very different here and may be due to that the products listed with shops are also different. And different to such an extent that most of the accessory shops here don't stock any of the items listed by you(except detailing products and bulbs).

Thanks for sharing this.