AKRON (Sept. 22, 2000)—A Web site isn´t necessary for every tire dealership, at least not in today´s market.
Nor is the Internet going to replace in the near future the brick-and-mortar dealership and face-to-face interaction at the service desk. That´s apparent from our latest report on the Internet and technology in this issue.
It´s not clear what role the Internet will play in the average dealer´s business. Those dealers who have Web sites find them of value for informing, communicating and marketing to customers. They just aren´t selling lots of tires and services over the Net yet.
The Internet continues to hold great promise but how it plays out remains to be seen.