Toyota clicks on to e-commerce with launch of official eBay stores for genuine parts and accessories sales

KEY POINTS

• Toyota opens official eBay stores for genuine Toyota and Lexus parts and accessories
• E-commerce initiative designed to reach a wider customer base, particularly among owners of older vehicles
• Project designed to complement, not compete with parts and accessories sales through the Toyota and Lexus Centre Network

Toyota GB has launched a fast, simple and secure way of obtaining genuine parts and accessories with the opening of official Toyota and Lexus eBay stores.

The e-commerce initiative gives UK customers a new and convenient way to source the parts they need, with confidence that they are purchasing the genuine article, direct from Toyota’s central distribution centre in Lutterworth.

The official eBay stores are designed to complement the nationwide network of Toyota and Lexus Centres, not to compete with them. Prices are the same as customers would pay at their local dealership, but in the inventory supports the owners of older vehicles, typically four to eight years old.

The range of parts offered through the stores focuses on items commonly needed for servicing and repairs, plus consumables such as touch-up paint, lubricants and polishes. The number offered will be increased in line with customer demand.

Steve Settle, Toyota Director, Customer Services, said: “Opening our new e-commerce channels helps us make genuine Toyota and Lexus parts and accessories available to a much wider customer base. Working alongside our Centres, they will help us maximise our business while providing customers with an alternative, convenient purchase method.

“Our research prior to launching the online stores revealed that around £15 million of parts and accessories for Toyota and Lexus vehicles are accessed through eBay searches every year, so it offers us great business potential. Our plan is that once customers have engaged with our eBay stores, we will able to build a relationship with them and introduce them to our Centre Network.”

Toyota’s principal partners in the venture are the online store management business We Are Pentagon, eBay, PayPal and Toyota Logistics Services, which fulfils the orders.

Toyota GB is the first of Toyota’s European national marketing and sales companies to launch a full-scale e-commerce programme. It plans to further develop the online stores by introducing “click and collect” and “click and fit” services during 2014.