A repair shop wants to renovate, 8 brands want to sponsor, who is sincere and who is a trick?

Any cooperation is always about exchanging value for value and resources for resources.

My store wants to renovate. Is it suitable to have a logo for an oil manufacturer or a logo for a tire manufacturer? "A store owner consulted me. His store has been in operation for over 8 years, but now the storefront is damaged, and the floor, walls, equipment, and facilities are outdated.

This idea was learned by the business personnel of the upstream dealer. Later, the investment promotion personnel from eight manufacturers, including well-known and unknown Internet chains, local chains, oil, tires, and wearing parts, visited the door successively and offered support for free decoration.

The boss said that he was originally planning to self pay for the decoration, but suddenly so many manufacturers and distributors came, and he didn't know what to do for a while.

01. Choose store recruitment and choose cooperation. Although brand empowerment is good, stores should avoid getting involved

The choice of store signs fundamentally depends on how to cooperate with distributors.

In fact, the cooperation model between dealers and auto repair shops directly affects the profitability and market competitiveness of both parties. In 2025, the automotive aftermarket will undergo a visible reshuffle, and the cooperation mode between the two parties will change rapidly.

Firstly, the traditional wholesale sales model remains the main path for cooperation between auto repair shops and suppliers at present. Distributors purchase goods from manufacturers and supply them to end stores, making a profit by buying and selling, while also serving as a reservoir for manufacturers' production capacity and end demand.

The advantages of this model are fast capital withdrawal, low inventory pressure, and flexible pricing for stores, resulting in a large profit margin. The disadvantage is that the cooperation between dealers and stores is shallow, and the resource advantages are difficult to utilize and explore.

Furthermore, there is the consignment distribution model, which was once popular in the industry. Distributors offer free distribution to auto repair shops, and both parties usually reach a verbal agreement known as a "gentleman's agreement". The shop does not need to stock funds, and after the product is sold, it will be divided according to the agreed proportion.

This model has broken down with the increasing homogenization of products, and the operating pain points of auto repair stores have become prominent. The products have been unsalable for a long time, and the financial pressure has made both parties suffer. The good ending is when the store pays for the product, the bad ending is when the distributor pulls the goods and leaves, and the worst part is when both sides argue and even turn against each other.

Secondly, the in store model has begun to deepen the binding between stores and distributors. Usually, for products with a one-time purchase quota in stores, distributors provide promotional materials and decoration support at a certain location in the store, resulting in lower overall investment costs for the store.

For stores, the benefits are obvious. On the one hand, there is a relatively unified price and service, which upgrades the car owner experience. On the other hand, it improves the store image and increases sales opportunities.

But for dealers, this model not only requires a large investment of funds and manpower, but also has high operating costs, slow expansion speed, and poor store adaptability, requiring careful estimation of input and output.

Finally, there is the emerging empowerment model, which has also been an upgraded gameplay for various manufacturers, brands, and distributors in recent years. Distributors or manufacturer salespeople use upstream resources such as brand to provide services such as image upgrading, customer acquisition, and private domain marketing for stores. In addition to products, they bundle services and value attributes.

These empowerment measures are highly sought after by a large number of auto repair owners, and whether it is financial reserves or daily operations, the stores seem to be the beneficiaries. However, it should be noted that brand or manufacturer support is not for charity purposes. The more support there is, the more corresponding contract terms there will be.

Therefore, when choosing to cooperate with auto repair shops, it is important to objectively evaluate their own abilities and choose cooperation within their capabilities. They should not be tempted by immediate benefits and burden themselves with promises that cannot be fulfilled.

Such negative cases are not uncommon, ranging from minor breaches of contract where both parties pay a penalty to cancel the cooperation, to severe cases where both parties turn against each other and engage in online and offline conflicts. Regardless of whether they are reasonable or not, it is ultimately not very respectable.

02. Stores compete for car owners, manufacturers compete for terminals, and behind the decoration are all business operations

The market is difficult to do, and technology, service, and image are all indispensable. The reason why this boss wants to renovate the store is because he found that old customers are constantly losing, and even many of them have been taken away by neighboring stores.

The boss went to peer stores to secretly investigate and found that the problem was not that old customers were "greedy for cheap", but rather that he was not proactive enough in expanding his customer base.

How to find the car owner? New car owners are channeled, old car owners are activated, online and offline access to car owners' information is constantly broadened, and sending DM single pages, WeChat owner groups, video numbers, circle of friends, Tiktok short videos, live group buying, customer telephone return visits, surrounding businesses, community promotion, etc. are all means.

But the real difficulty lies in long-term persistence, and many auto repair shop owners only hope for a drainage tool that falls from the sky. This kind of idea is inevitably brought into brand cooperation, which requires image upgrading and traffic empowerment to dispel charm.

When it comes to technology and good service, it's better to let car owners see and feel the value of the store. "The appearance of the store being" dirty, messy, and poor "often reflects an unclear positioning of the store and the free flow of business processes. Car owners are not interested in actively learning about the operation of the store, and based on their preconceived image, they even determine their impression of the store's technology and service standards.

So, from image to layout, the store must be clean, hygienic, and tidy, which also involves the aesthetic of the cooperating brand. On this basis, personnel communication and construction processes should also establish corresponding rules to form characteristics. In other words, behind the renovation of stores and the empowerment of brand support, there is a greater need for synchronous upgrades within the stores.

Similarly, the behavior of manufacturers supporting decoration and assisting stores is also competing for their own end customers. Seizing the store's signage, product shelves, indoor promotional elements, etc., has been a means of continuous investment and competition by numerous upstream distributors, including manufacturers, since the beginning of this year.

Whoever has more terminal stores can expand and stabilize regional sales channels, and establish a sales network that competitors cannot reach. Brand and store two-way screening, assistance cooperation, and jointly overcome industry difficulties.

It is precisely for this reason that changing doors is a reflection on the cooperation of "1+1>2". Free decoration is a short-term and one-time benefit for auto repair shops, which fundamentally lies in how to build consensus and establish long-term mutually beneficial cooperative relationships.

03. Warning on cooperation between auto repair shops, which upstream manufacturers are more reliable?

The saying 'wool comes from sheep' is always correct.

In terms of the conditions for brand empowerment cooperation, the popular practice in the industry is to sign a product order quantity contract, which includes monthly, quarterly, and annual orders. After reaching the agreement, equipment, materials, decoration, and so on will be delivered. But based on the current business situation, if a store does not have independent and autonomous management capabilities, the results will be obvious if it fails to meet the targets.

There are many similar ways of playing, and bosses are also starting to clear their doors, but don't trust irresponsible business personnel to draw cakes easily. Those who chat for no more than three sentences and boast that they and their affiliated companies are excellent, and that bringing their own projects can rescue auto repair shops from chaos, are 80% unreliable.

These personnel can be said to have devoted everything to their own performance and indicators, investing in the best of their stores and doing everything they can. Whenever the store puts money into their pockets, they either fail to fulfill their promises or leave their staff unattended. The expected assistance and support from the store is met with unwavering monthly performance.

Don't ignore the breach of contract, which is a weakness for many auto repair shop owners. Especially when signing a cooperation agreement, agreeing to it in a confused manner, and when the other party talks about the matter according to the terms, the projects supporting the decoration will not cause much trouble. The uncomfortable thing is that the breach of contract fees have to be deducted from the deposit and payment.

So, which brands or manufacturers are truly reliable? The author believes that upstream cooperation with training and mentoring can continuously bring business ideas and executable plans to stores; Upstream cooperation is possible for offline on-site supervision of practical projects in stores; Upstream partners who diagnose pain points in store operations and provide improvement and optimization solutions are available for cooperation; There are upstream partners who have physical strength to continuously invest and improve their brand and projects; Can bring a series of upstream partners responsible for increasing output value, business management, marketing promotion, project focus, etc. to auto repair shops.

Of course, the prerequisite for effective cooperation is that the store needs to move and the boss needs to continue to promote and implement it. A boss who is willing to continue investing and practicing, and can persist in establishing store management characteristics for a long time, can seek upstream cooperation. Store owners who are three parts hot, two parts passionate, and seven parts fantasized should still guard their own foundation and not blindly tinker, so as not to end up wasting money and effort.

04. To forge iron, one still needs to be strong on their own. To become a new retail format car service store

The gameplay of the automotive aftermarket has shifted from being dominated by channels and resources in the "lying down and earning era" to being dominated by efficiency in the "intensive farming era". In the future, the stores that can survive will definitely be automotive service stores represented by service attributes.

The first step is to upgrade the internal and external image, which needs to cater to market changes and keep up with market demand.

Taking car owners' consumption as an example, the car maintenance concept of car owners born in the 1970s and 1980s is mainly based on offline emotions and reputation, while the concept of car owners born in the 1990s and 2000s is mainly based on online differentiated needs and brand praise. They will not be loyal to a certain store, but will choose more stores that can interact with each other and even provide emotional value.

This requires a clear positioning of store business, meeting the standards of basic business, and differentiated output while maintaining advantages, to be the "translator" of car owners' needs.

Or focus on segmented channels (such as seasonal projects, aging car condition demand projects, personalized car condition services), or target specific car owner groups (communities, units, alliances, major customers, WeChat groups), and enhance car owner stickiness through scenario based car condition service solutions.

In addition, auto repair shops need to create and establish their own exclusive upstream and downstream channels, and build core business barriers.

As the old saying goes, no one will share the true path to making money. For stores with good business, outsiders watch the excitement, while experts watch the resources. Taking engine oil and tires as examples, if terminal stores can delve into the supply source, obtain first-hand policies and prices, then they have inherent competitive advantages.

This requires the store to have sufficient highlights and receive attention from upstream. Specific car owner needs, strong regional influence, and massive online influence are all directions that can be addressed.

Finally, the store needs to start refined management, drive innovation internally, and continue digitalization.

Inventory management relies on memory, work order processing relies on notes, and customer retention relies on alcohol - this "workshop style" operation is vulnerable in refined management. Even more deadly is the resistance of many to innovation and change: they believe that digitization is a waste of money, O2O is not profitable, and training and learning are not as good as maintenance and screwing.

The so-called refined management is to establish mechanisms and rules in personnel, business, service, and publicity, systematically output to car owners, and analyze these work contents through daily reports. This is what truly constitutes doing business.

Some experts believe that in the future, the automotive aftermarket service stores will accelerate their differentiation into a "dumbbell shaped" structure: on one hand, there will be super large stores with larger and more comprehensive service capabilities, and on the other hand, there will be "small and refined" stores that focus on vertical business scenarios. There will be fewer and fewer intermediaries that are neither upper nor lower, making it increasingly difficult.

From the perspective of the development trends of distributors, brands, and manufacturers, highlighting product advantages, strengthening service attributes, and leveraging cultural value have become a consensus. The same goes for auto repair shops, where the value foundation of products, technology, and services is being further explored and disseminated.

Whether it's changing doors or store within store, only by truly leveraging the strengths of both parties can we achieve a healthy and long-term cooperation.