Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
How does Tire Rack manage to be #1??? I was expecting DTD to have that spot.
Tire Rack was one of the first, if not the first, to be a successful mail order, then online tire dealer.
In terms of their advertising, their ads and website have always been better and more nicely presented than anyone else.
When TR was doing eye-catching, full-color ads in the back of the car rags, the others were still single page with little to no color.
I don't like the current incarnation of the website as much as the previous one, but TR's is still nicer than DTD's, even after the latter updated so it didn't look like something from the 90's.
Not only did TR present a nicer, more polished pitch, they also helped take some of the anxiety out of ordering tires by setting up the installer program.
So, where DT is no doubt the older company (1960) and largest B&M tire dealer, it was TR (1979) that blazed the trail for mail order and broke the traditional dealer sales/installation model.
And now the manufactures are exploring their own direct-to-consumer online sales channels.
In retail, Sumitomo owns TBC (Big O/NTB/Tire Kingdom), Bridgestone owns Firestone, other regional chains (and tried to buy Pep Boys), Goodyear has long had its own tires center like Firestone, and so on...
If you wear eyeglasses, or even just sunglasses, you may or may not have heard of the Luxottica Group, but you've certainly been affected by their vertical integration model.
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
I have major issues with tirebuyer's parent company American Tire Distributors.
What's funny is that I've seen an ATD truck delivering tires to a DT store. I wouldn't tolerate that kind of behavior from any sales rep.
How does Tire Rack manage to be #1??? I was expecting DTD to have that spot.
Tire Rack was one of the first, if not the first, to be a successful mail order, then online tire dealer.
In terms of their advertising, their ads and website have always been better and more nicely presented than anyone else.
When TR was doing eye-catching, full-color ads in the back of the car rags, the others were still single page with little to no color.
I don't like the current incarnation of the website as much as the previous one, but TR's is still nicer than DTD's, even after the latter updated so it didn't look like something from the 90's.
Not only did TR present a nicer, more polished pitch, they also helped take some of the anxiety out of ordering tires by setting up the installer program.
So, where DT is no doubt the older company (1960) and largest B&M tire dealer, it was TR (1979) that blazed the trail for mail order and broke the traditional dealer sales/installation model.
And now the manufactures are exploring their own direct-to-consumer online sales channels.
In retail, Sumitomo owns TBC (Big O/NTB/Tire Kingdom), Bridgestone owns Firestone, other regional chains (and tried to buy Pep Boys), Goodyear has long had its own tires center like Firestone, and so on...
If you wear eyeglasses, or even just sunglasses, you may or may not have heard of the Luxottica Group, but you've certainly been affected by their vertical integration model.
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
I have major issues with tirebuyer's parent company American Tire Distributors.
What's funny is that I've seen an ATD truck delivering tires to a DT store. I wouldn't tolerate that kind of behavior from any sales rep.
