Bridgestone rolling out TireConnect nationwide

One dealership that has experienced the benefits is Burt Brothers Tire in Utah.

Jeremy Burt, warehouse and marketing operations manager, said having TireConnect in place is like having a salesperson on duty 24/7, doing business with potential customers the dealership likely wouldn't reach with traditional marketing/sales efforts.

"It's amazing how many people are tire shopping at 2 in the morning," Mr. Burt said.

"This has jump-started us into the online business," he said, noting it would be extremely time-consuming and expensive to try and do so independently.

"This allows even a stand-alone dealership to get into online selling," he said.

The TireConnect tool also can be used in the store by store personnel, Mr. Burt noted, to help look at tire options with the customer.

The online buying process "creates a sense of urgency," Mr. Burt said, "in wanting to get that customer taken care of right away."

Online customers can specify an appointment time, which the dealership confirms as soon as possible, Mr. Burt said. This sets into motion an automated search for the tires ordered to ensure they're at the right store before the agreed-to appointment time.

Retailers can designate to Bridgestone which wholesaler or wholesalers they prefer to work with, a request that is then incorporated into the system.

One unanticipated benefit Mr. Burt noticed was that the dealership's store personnel are a bit more efficient now, because they need to spend less time with customers who ordered online once those customers are in the store. He's even noticed that existing customers have started using the tool.

From a technical point of view, Tire- Connect is seen as a "plug-and-play" solution that works with Bridgestone dealers' current websites, providing a seamless research-and-purchasing experience between consumers and a preferred local dealer.

On the Burt Brothers' site, for example, there's a "Powered by TireConnect" symbol on the side of the tire search page that's barely noticeable — by design, Mr. Seidel noted.

TireConnect helps the individual retailer deal with SKU complexity and the trend toward larger sizes, Mr. Seidel said, both of which restrict/limit the size of inventory a dealer can stock.

Retailers pay a fee — either $25 or $75 per location per month, depending on whether the dealer opts for an open search function vs. the Bridgestone preference option — to be able to use TireConnect.

The revenue generated goes toward the development of improvements to the platform, Mr. Seidel said. One such addition being rolled out is a license plate look-up feature that would allow customers to use their plate number to identify their vehicle in starting a tire search.

When Bridgestone bought TireConnect Systems in 2015, it said it expected the acquisition would allow it, together with its dealer network and distributors, to meet the needs of "digitally minded consumers" more effectively by providing an integrated tire-buying experience from online to in-store.

Bridgestone has said at various times that it estimates that 83 percent of consumers in the market for tires are researching their purchases online. In addition, Mr. Seidel said research shows 60 percent of those shoppers start a search for tire information with a local dealer in mind rather than a tire company or tire brand.

Bridgestone's service is not to be confused with Tireconnect.com, an online tire-purchasing platform run by Mavis Tire Supply of Millwood, N.Y. That site redirects visitors to the Mavis Tire web site.