Tom Taylor - Rock Auto's Online Approach To Parts Needs

Tom Taylor – Rock Auto’s Online Approach To Parts Needs

Rock Auto's VP of Marketing shares the company's history as a Dot Com and as a player in the automotive aftermarket.

An admitted “car hoarder,” Tom Taylor, VP of Marketing and Co-Owner of Rock Auto, says he and his family really lucked out when they founded the online auto parts retailer in the midst of the “Dot Com” bubble. According to their website, Rock Auto’s goal is to “liberate information hidden behind the auto parts store counter,” and make auto parts affordable. After more than 20 years in business, with Rock Auto now a household name amongst car lovers, it is fair to say that mission has been successful. 

“It was really lot of dot com companies in the beginning, like toys.com. They had all this money and felt they had to create everything from scratch. So they would say, ‘let’s build a warehouse and let’s buy all this inventory.’ For auto parts, you didn’t really have to do that. It was the, the perfect timing because the big chain stores had put a lot of the smaller auto parts retailers out of business. So, you had all these warehouse distributors and a lot of name brand manufacturers were looking for ways to sell their product be because the big chain stores had their private label brands. So it was really good timing for us that you had all these experts in warehousing, they had the inventory, and they were looking for new ways to sell their inventory. Some of them were trying to sell direct to consumers and shops and struggling with that. So, we gave them a new way to sell and quickly became their biggest customer for all of them or most of them. 

In this latest AMN Drivetime podcast, Bill Babcox and Tom Taylor dive into a number of other topics, including:

1:59 How Rock Auto was formed

5:00 Surviving the Dot Com Bubble and how Rock Auto outlasted many competitors

6:13 Who are Rock Auto’s biggest customers? 

7:06 How did the pandemic e-commerce boom impact Rock Auto?

8:03 Just how many cars does Taylor own?

10:19 What does the typical Rock Auto customer “look” like?

13:00 The process for picking the right parts suppliers

15:12 How Rock Auto helps professional techs and DIYers pick the right parts and chemicals

17:24 Pricing and serving the professional tech

21:30 The ever-popular Lightning Round! 

AMN Drivetime is sponsored by Litens.

You May Also Like

Rick Schwartz: M&A Trends Affecting the Aftermarket

Schwartz Advisors’ Rick Schwartz delves into his career history and the breadth and depth of the firm’s expertise.

The Schwartz name is synonymous with the automotive aftermarket. It started with Mort Schwartz, an engineer by training who served as chairman and CEO of four different automotive aftermarket companies from the 60s to the 90s. Mort's service to the aftermarket, including as a member and chair of various aftermarket committees, spans more than 40 years, and now his son, Rick, is following in his footsteps to make the Schwartz name a leader in M&A advising and business growth strategies in the industry.Rick received his MBA from USC's Marshall School of Business, and while his father grew and ran companies in the aftermarket, Rick's career spans multiple industries working in management positions for the likes of Macy's, Nestle and The Upper Deck Company early in his career. He gained C-suite level experience as the COO of a health and fitness company before joining forces with his dad to create Schwartz Advisors, an M&A and growth consultant for companies in the automotive aftermarket.In some ways, we sat around the dinner table one day and my dad said, I've got an idea. What do you think about this?" Rick explains. "One of [his goals was] to start a company that would be an advisor to the industry. That's a company that didn't exist when [he] owned his WDs. At the time I was running a company in San Diego1, and he knew that I wanted to do something more entrepreneurial and something that touched on the private equity world. He wanted to see something that could really provide value to the industry."In 2006, Schwartz Advisors was born, and since then, the firm has added 12 industry experts from different segments to consult on various deals and strategies.In this episode of AMN Drivetime, sponsored by AISIN, Rick delves into:The reasons why he initially studied international relations (1:00)Lessons he learned from working at large companies in different industries early in his career (1:44)How Schwartz Advisors was born (2:54)The breadth and depth of Schwartz Advisors' expertise (4:02)Trends in M&A in the macroeconomy and the automotive aftermarket (8:02)The types of business that are a good fit for the "buy-side" and "sell-side" of acquisitions (10:22)Lessons Rick learned from his father, Mort (12:42)Rapid Fire questions (14:18) AMN Drivetime is sponsored by AISIN. Find more episodes here.

The 4 P’s of GSP’s Growth with Michael Ceritano

Ceritano describes the ways GSP North America has grown and what he feels has been integral to its success.

Autologue’s Jim Franco: Opportunities in Today’s Market

Find out why Jim Franco is as energized as ever about the business opportunities he sees in the market today.

Passion, People Drive Continental’s Travis Roffler

Travis Roffler, Continental Tire the Americas director of marketing, uses his passion to drive his career success.

AMN Drivetime: Aisin’s Dwayne Bates & Larrow Kaufman

Aisin’s Dwayne Bates and Larrow Kaufman discuss the company’s recent changes and its go-to-market strategy.

Other Posts

GB Remanufacturing’s Michael Kitching on AMN Drivetime

Kitching says he’s proud to be part of the industry as reman gets the sustainability attention it deserves.

Coats’ Ben Pryor Has Embraced Lean Thinking

Pryor spent four months learning lean principles by going to the “gemba.”

AMN Drivetime: MANN+HUMMEL’s Daryl Benton

Benton talks about innovating for the future as the Purolator brand celebrates 100 years.

AMN Drivetime: Rick Maxwell

Rick and Bill talk about what it means to continue the legacy of a family business.