For the attention of: THE DEALER PRINCIPAL & PARTS MANAGER

PARTSPOOL and the "Credit Crunch"

With new vehicle sales falling dramatically and consumers holding on to their cars for longer, site traffic at Partspool.com is expanding rapidly.

There is only one problem!

Customers can't find the parts they want!

Over the part year the level of searches has risen dramatically as those with older vehicles want to keep them on the road for longer. While part of this increased traffic must be due to the growing awareness of what Partpool.com can offer, the greatest growth has been in the last 3 months.

Not only that, but a major proportion have been for parts that are not on the database. We have been aware for some time as we studied the actual searches on the site that an increasing number of those searches were unsuccessful. We therefore undertook a study of the number of site searches for parts which proved unsuccessful. We were amazed by the results:

The graph shows that the number of unsuccessful searches has grown from under 2000 a month in January 2007 to it's current level of 93,517 in September 2008, with the largest increases coming in the last 3 months. Already in the current month (October 2008) we are running at a rate of about 75,000 per month..

What does all this mean?

Basically, if you want to move your old stock out of inventory, Partspool looks like just the place to do it!

Remember some of the other key facts about this graph:

• It only counts the result of "specific" un-successful results, i.e. where a user has entered either an actual part number and/or a description.
• It excludes "ALL" searches.
• It only includes results for manufacturers whose stock we hold on the database (or have held in the past). This is because the system only offers a list of those manufacturers for whom we actually hold stock.

If you would like to see an up-to-date report on actual searches in the last 24 hours, including details of individual searches just click here.

We want to help more people find the parts they want. To do that we need more stock.

Remember it costs less than US$2.00 (£1.00 Sterling or about €1.30) a week to put an unlimited number of parts records onto the Partspool database. And our traffic is now split 50/50 between the US and Europe. As one of our dealers remarked "At that price it's a no-brainer!"

We also encourage you to put all your stock on the system. With our "simple to use" file upload facility it is the task of a few moments, and you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Give it a go!

We are regularly introducing new features, just check our regular Newsletters for more information.

What's under Development?

Other Versions.

These proposed versions will be accessed via a a specific web address or “gateway”
(e.g. http://xyz-dealer-group.partspool.com or http://xyz-car-club.partspool.com)
and will take the user to a specific welcome page. This page will include an option to select whether to view just those parts belonging to other members of the Dealer Group or Car Club or all parts on the Partspool Database.
The system will also include an RSS Newsfeed displaying all parts added by Group/Club members during a specific period .The aim of the new version is to enable Groups and Car Clubs to offer a special parts "intranet" to its members.
If you would like more information about this proposed system please email us.

New User Manual.

Yes, just like everyone else, it is a constant struggle just to think about updating the User Manual!
The problem, of course, is that we would much rather put all our development efforts into adding new features to the system. However we have finally put someone on the job!
So if there is anything that the existing manual doesn't explain as clearly as you would like, please let us know and we will do our best to make sure we address the problem.
And if there is a feature that the existing system does not include which you think should be added, just let us know and we will have a look. No promises mind!

Click to email