Dear Start My Car,

You know what they say: Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, experience is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad (and that Philosophy is wondering if tomato sauce is a smoothie).

The same could be said for eCommerce.

Consumer products are products that are bought by individuals or households for personal use. Some  of these final goods are convenience products like sugar, pens, and paper which are bought frequently without much research or price checking. Other products, like furniture and electronics are bought less frequently by consumers with more research and price comparisons. With specialty products such as designer clothing and luxury watches, the focus is more on being able to secure the brand more than it is price comparisons.

Car parts are a component of a consumer product and not an item that is regularly purchased. In many instances, the person purchasing the part is not the technician who is fitting it. This can create a knowledge gap which makes research an essential part of the process. What complicates it is that price comparisons can sometimes be misleading because of the proliferation of inferior quality parts, which can be dangerous from a safety perspective. Sticking with known, certified and trusted brands is critical.

We understand that most people aren’t familiar with the intricacies of parts or technical specifications. This is why at Start My Car we are building a technology to help simplify this process. We do this by prompting the purchaser to provide the relevant information for us to display the correct products.

Give it a try and let us know how it went. The more you guide us the better we will be.

I hope this helps. Next week we’ll flesh out some of the challenges of buying car parts online and how we are overcoming them.

Have a fantastic weekend and regards,

Baruch