TireConnect Vice President George Silagadze explained that consumers select tires on the Bridgestone or Firestone websites, then enter their ZIP codes for a list of local participating tire dealerships.
When a dealership name is selected, the consumer is redirected to the dealer's website where the consumer can see if the selected tire is available, the prices for purchase and installation and any additional services the dealership offers. The consumer also has the option to request an appointment.
Dealers will receive full credit for the sale, he said.
"Now, I will say that these options are dealer-specific. So in some cases, dealers choose to enable transactions online. In some cases, they don't. So ultimately, it's whatever options they have on their websites, those are the options that consumers will have," he said.
"We intentionally try to make it nice and simple, as much as possible. I think the cool thing is that, number one, obviously this is incremental business that Bridgestone was able to drive to our dealers. Number two, it allows them to compete with national retailers. ...
"So it allows them to compete with national brands that Bridgestone had enabled previously. Now, you can enjoy the same type of capability, basically, and same benefits. So previously, it was just the national chains that were listed."
Silagadze said that in the few weeks that the functionality has been active on TireConnect, there have been about 500 leads that went out to connected dealers.
He noted that TireConnect is a conversion solution, so dealers still need to develop their websites so as to drive traffic to their stores.
He said participating dealers do have to post their prices on their websites.
"We felt that in order for them to benefit from this type of functionality, they need to add minimum pricing enabled, but no extra fees," he said, adding, "Based on our data and what we're seeing in terms of customer behavior and what customers are looking for, if dealers don't post their prices, over 60% of customers will immediately leave the website and go to the next one.
"So when we speak to our clients or potential clients, we always encourage them to display prices because if they don't, they will lose 60%-plus of visitors that end up on their websites."
Another benefit of the referral feature is that dealers can generate add-on sales and services.
"So for example, I started with the Bridgestone website, I see that this dealer has the product available. I like the price, but I also realize that I need my oil changed, for example. So what I can do is click this button on the dealer website and actually proceed to the automotive services on the dealer's website, where I will be asked for some additional information. But you will see that the tire is brought in (to the dealer's website) that I have selected with all the installation services and the price, and now I can select whatever else I need to get done," Silagadze said.
He said the company has seen growing interest from customers to schedule additional automotive services along with the tire sale.
All TireConnect-enabled dealers are automatically enrolled in the new capability as part of their TireConnect package.
