autoX spoke to Mr. Neeraj Chauhan - Founder & CEO of online retailing site, Changemytyre.com - about the Indian Tyre Industry, and the attitude of Indian consumers about purchasing tyres online. Here are the excerpts:
In an increasingly competitive industry, what differentiates Changemytyre.com from the local tyre dealer?
Tyre stores are interesting places, they have all the services that are required to fit, balance, align and repair tyres, but they do not have enough tyres. There are over 1500 Tyre SKUs in the market (just counting major tyre brands). Even to stock one set of each type, tyre stores would need to have over 6000 tyres in stock. A good tyre store in India does not stock more than 300 tyres, which mean only 20-30 fast moving tyre sizes are in stock. Changemytyre, on the other hand, being an online portal can accommodate massive variety and best prices.
Dealers just stock fast moving SKUs and try to sell what they have, and then buy what they sell – imposing limitations of their capabilities on customer choice.
Changemytyre, with its complete range of tyres across all brands, offers a unique proposition where customers can choose from any available option at the prices that are better than normal tyre shops. As far as service is concerned that also gets taken care of, as we have tied up with over 100 fitment centers that offer professional installation, balancing and alignment services to customer who purchase tyres from Changemytyre.com.
In a country where the take-up of online purchasing has been relatively slow, how has the response for you been? And what growth potential do you see for online tyre retailing in the Indian market?
It’s been over six months since we’ve been fully operational. Changemytyre.com attracts more traffic than all tyre company websites put together. In Delhi and Bangalore, over 20% of people who are buying tyres are visiting changemytyre.com before making a purchase decision. We see this figure growing to 40% in the next year.
One of the practical difficulties in buying online is the lack of physical inspection of the product. How do your clients react to that situation, and what is your solution in this regard?
The Changemytyre.com interface allows you to select a tyre by size or by the car type. We have all the cars available in India as part of the database. When you complete your order, the tyres can be shipped to your home and you can have them installed on your own at a nearby service centre. Hence, the tyre buying process is very user friendly.
Tyres sold by Changemytyre are covered by standard manufacturer warranties. In case a customer has a complaint, they can approach our service center and we shall handle the warranty claim process for them. We maintain electronic records of tyre manufacturing and selling dates so the customer does not have to manage receipts and warranty cards.
The Indian tyre market is going through a difficult phase. How do you see the industry evolving in the short to medium term?
The size of the tyre market in India still relatively small, but yes it is evolving in the short to medium term because of its strong linkages with other parts of the economy – the final impact of a shock in the automobile industry on the broader economy is sizable. Online tyre retailing is a successful concept in the US and Europe. Going forward, it’s expected that the industry’s top-line will continue to witness a healthy growth scenario in the tyre market in India. However, the tyre industry would face challenges of rising raw material prices and increase in interest costs, but the tyre market would definitely grow due to the increase in vehicle miles traveled and a slight uptick in auto sales.
Lastly, what according to you is the USP for a customer to choose Changemytyre over a traditional brick-and-mortar tyre reseller?
ChangeMyTyre.com was established with the objective of bringing choice, transparency and convenience to the tyre buying process. Starting with car tyres, the portal now offers a complete range of two-wheeler tyres and alloy wheels at best prices. ChangeMyTyre.com allows customers to research, compare and review tyres from all tyre companies in India. Customers can select the best tyre option for their vehicle based on the product attributes and price. This changes the way tyres are sold in India – where a local dealer would try to sell the tyres he had in stock, and one had to visit ten dealers to find out the right price. ChangeMyTyre.com delivers purchases to all major cities and towns across India with no additional shipping charges. It has fitment centres in 15 major cities in India, and is in the process of rolling out a network of Changemytyre.com authorised fitment centres across India, where customers who have purchased tyres online can have the tyres fitted.
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