What's the best out-of-the-box eCommerce solution for aftermarket auto parts?

I've been trying to find a decent solution for aftermarket auto parts for a couple weeks now. We're in the retail parts business and compete with companies such as 4 wheel parts, jeep 4x4 center, quadratec, and northridge4x4. We'd like to find an out of the box solution with support for year make model listings, that can be developed into a modern site similar to these. Any suggestions?

 

You can knock up an enterprise level solution with Magento and this http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/year-make-model-extension.html

hope that helps,
Nigel

 

Another low-cost option is to become a vendor on Level X Motorsports, a marketplace for motorsports and aftermarket parts: http://www.levelxms.com. It's a bit of a different model in that it's a marketplace for manufacturers to sell directly to customers, but since it's free to list, it might be worth it to you. You can find a more detailed info here: http://www.levelxms.com/marketplace/.

Regarding fitment information, I would discourage use of the above mentioned Magento extension. To do this right and not have it be crazy painful to manage, you'll probably want to do this via ACES and PIES data. If you're a SEMA member, check out their SEMA Data Co-op program which helps you manage this.

Disclaimer: I work for Level X Motorsports.

 

I have used both 3dcart and Netowork solutions (formerly monster commerce) I like them both and are very easy to use, you can get into these for around $30.00 per month

For Wordpress, I have heard good things about woo themes and woo commerce, although, I have never used them

al

 

I would suggest using magento. It has a lot of search modules you can use to make your searches.

Simply add tags to your products and include a search on the front end.

Some of them are free, other paid. You are free to choose what ever is best for you.

Here are some of them, so you can see the price range http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/catalogsearch/result/?q=search&pl=0

About the WooCommerce, heard a lot, seen a lot, but I'm one of the guys who prefer to use a platform to sell for selling and platform to blog for blogging. Personal preference

Hope it helps,

 

Sounds like Solid Commerce might be able to help you out. We've got a lot of features that were designed to work with some of the more complicated things that can come with selling auto parts:

http://solidcommerce.com/solutions/motors/

http://solidcommerce.com/solutions/webstores/

I'd love to talk with you a bit more about your selling operation, if you're interested! You can PM me and we can get in touch that way, you're more than welcome to just call me up at 800.750.7617 any time.

Hope this helps!

_ Sean

 

For smaller guys just starting out I usually recommend Ebay or Amazon to get your fulfillment and customer service aspects worked out. Then the next step would be one of the boutique eCommerce options where you can pick a free template and pay $99 per month, this can get you started in a niche where you add value and start building a name for yourself. They key here is that if you pick the right niche having a Year Make Model lookup becomes less critical so you can keep your platform costs and data maintenance at a minimum.

Once you are ready for your second generation website to grow, you could always go with an open source platform with a 3rd party Year Make Model plugin. There are often many plugins you can get for all kinds of functionality, really the sky is the limit in terms of the vast options although there is a learning curve with all that functionality. You will also want to make sure you have a reliable developer on hand at all times to address any security updates for the platform and be aware that updates to the platform can frequently break the 3rd party plugins.

In some cases you may want to have an all-in-one solution where you don't have to deal with software, hosting, security and support all from different vendors. One that has an integrated Year Make Model lookup and access to all of the brands in either DCi or SEMA Data Co-Op as well as direct from other manufacturers. Web Shop Manager is a turn-key platform for the automotive and powersports industry or any other market with complex product catalogs, we take care of all the complex technical stuff so that you to focus on running your business.

http://webshopmanager.com/p-14368-automotive.html

Dana

Full disclosure, I am the founder of Web Shop Manager

 

Shopify !

 

I have seen that every platform tries to be the best. However, I have found mixed opinions for all. Some say that Magento is OK while others will drag you toward Shopify. However, it entirely depends what you choose. Like I wanted platform that would let me build store for free. I knew that in near future, I would need mobile application as well. So after going through different forums and portals, I gave try to Shopify but found that this is not what I was looking for as I needed something different. I then considered using Tibolli.NET. This helped me because this is facilitating me the way I want. Now I have very stable store and I have requested mobile application for my own store as well.