Instead of trying to compete head on with the traditional tyre retailers, TyreStore decided to use the Blue Ocean strategy.
TyreStore: The Perception of Chinese Tyres has Changed
TyreStore Sdn Bhd brought the PowerTrac brand into Malaysia in October, 2018. Today, the company is the exclusive distributor of PowerTrac passenger car radial (PCR) tyres for West Malaysia. According to TyreStore Director Ryan Yu, PowerTrac is manufactured by Shandong Haohua Tire Co., Ltd, one of the top 5 tyre companies in China. With an annual output of 33 million truck, bus and passenger car radial tyres, the company focuses on eco-friendly products that meet international standards.
“The Malaysian tyre market is expected to remain stagnant with the economic slowdown and uncertainties, as well as the influx of many players and new brands. It is declining and going through a ‘filtration’ process. Only companies that establish an edge over their competitors are able to stay afloat. We see the importance of doing business differently,” said Wayne Yu, who is also the Director of the company.
Early this year, Wayne’s father passed away unexpectedly. Wayne and his brother Ryan decided to change their career paths and took over the family business. Wayne is in the marketing field while Ryan is a chartered accountant by profession. They became a perfect team with the complementary abilities of each other. Wayne is responsible for setting marketing strategy, brand building, identifying market opportunities and gaining a better understanding of customer needs. Ryan, on the other hand, looks into financial functions related to the collection, accuracy, recording analysis and presentation of the company’s financial operations.
“Today, things have changed, almost all the brands are looking into retailing. Instead of trying to compete head on with the traditional tyre retailers, we decided to use the Blue Ocean strategy. We find ways to open up a new market space and create new demand. This was how the klinikar.com website came into play, to free us from competition in the existing market place, enabling us to pursue low cost and differentiation leadership with ample opportunity for growth,” revealed Wayne.
With 80 exclusive distributors across the world, PowerTrac tyres are sold in more than 150 countries including Russia, USA, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, just to name a few. Besides good quality, Wayne continued, PowerTrac offers a complete range of products that cover the various different market segments and needs, from every-day road use to high performance and off road, including run-flat and commercial tyres.”
Perception of Chinese Tyres Has Changed
In Malaysia, Ryan said, PowerTrac is positioned as a mid-range brand, and the company offers a full range of PowerTrac passenger car tyres from 12 to 24- inch diameter. The market response, he said, is good. “In recent years, we noticed a change of view on Chinese tyres that had previously been perceived as budget and low in quality. China now has some of the most advanced tyre factories and automation processes in the world. In fact, many of the ultra-high performance tyres of the major brands are manufactured in China. I believe in the next 5 to 10 years, consumers would no longer focus on the country of origin, but on the compound, quality and technology.”
Wayne added that TyreStore works with sustainable partners. He said, with advanced Research & Development capability, production technology and testing equipment, Shangdong Hanhua is able to develop tyres that are suitable for the road conditions and climate of the Malaysian market, and carry out testing before introducing PowerTrac tyres to them.
“The PowerTrac brand has gained attention and recognition from our Klinikar website with its good quality and reasonable pricing. We launched two new tyres – PowerTrac Adventure Pro A/T and Racing Pro recently at Bangsar Shopping Mall for our dealers on 23rd November. We are very proud that Malaysia has been selected as the first country to launch the new Racing Pro tyres, which show the importance of this market as well the fact that our vendor is committed in growing the PowerTrac brand together with us,” said Wayne.
PowerTrac Racing Pro, Ryan pointed out, is a tyre that is designed to meet the need of the ultra-high-performance market. It is planned to be officially launched on the market early next year.
The Birth of klinikar.com
Traditional or offline tyre sellers are facing tough competition in the market place, not only among themselves, but also from some big players that are selling tyres online, or other e-commerce websites that sell almost everything.
“We created Klinikar.com at the end of 2017 and officially started in March 2018, as it could not only help us to reach more customers, but also new demographics. It also gives our brand and product a wider audience visibility and allows us to gather data and information that could elevate marketing efforts above anything a traditional store could manage. In short, we believe that tyre manufacturers and dealers need to take the advantage of digitalisation to consolidate their market position. However, we believe that in order to gain success, on-line and off-line are equally important,” explained Wayne.
Unlike the other e-commerce platforms that sell almost everything, Klinikar is a car care platform that specialises in specialises in tyre retailing but at the same time exploring car maintenance and other services.
“It is convenient for the consumer as he/she does not have to drive all the way to the tyre shop and find out that the particular tyres required are out of stock. Our ultimate goal is to serve our e-customer like a workshop. We would give them professional advice on choosing not only the right tyres for their vehicle but also ones that are relevant to their application, providing a seamless and hassle-free service, from selecting tyres to fitment,” added Ryan.
Wayne is aware that the majority of the tyre dealers are not ready for digitalisation. “They either do not have the skill or resources to operate their own on-line retailing, or the time to manage it. We welcome independent workshops that meet our criteria to join our car care platform. “
Today, Klinikar.com has 38,000 registered users and 150,000 views per day. It has partnered with 18 workshops in Klang Valley with plans expanding to Ipoh and Seremban next year.
TyreStore 提供统一的PowerTrac轮胎无缝采购经验
2018年10月，TyreStore 私人有限公司将PowerTrac 品牌引进马来西亚。如今该公司是PowerTrac轿车子午胎（PCR) 在西马的独家经销商。据TyreStore董事尤芳炜表示，PowetTrac 是由中国第五大轮胎公司 –山东昊华轮胎有限公司制造。年产3，300万条卡车、巴士及轿车子午轮胎，该公司聚焦于符合国际标准的环保产品。
“随着经济放缓和不确定，再加上大量涌入的行业参与者和新品牌，马来西亚轮胎市场将持续停滞不前。它正在下跌，经历着一个‘过滤’过程。只有那些成功建立起超越竞争者优势的公司才能支撑下去。我们看到了以不同方式经商的重要性。”尤芳荣，也是该公司的董事表示。
今年年初，尤芳荣的父亲突然过世。尤芳荣和弟弟尤芳炜决定改变职业生涯，接管了家族生意。尤芳荣擅长于营销领域，吴芳炜 则是一名专业特许会计师。他们因此能够互补长短，成为最完美的搭档。尤芳荣制定行销策略、建立品牌、识别市场商机，以及更好地了解客户需求。尤芳炜则管理与公司财务相关的工作如收帐、准确性、分析记录数据及汇报公司财务运作等。
“今天，事情都起了变化，几乎所有的品牌都开始关注零售领域 。 与其和传统的零售商正面竞争，我决定采用蓝海策略。我们寻找打开新市场空间和创造新需求的方式。这正是klinikar.com网站能够发挥作用的地方 ，它将我们从现有的市场竞争中释放出来，让我们能够追求拥有充足增长机会的低成本和差异化领导。”尤芳荣透露。
PowerTrac 在全世界拥有80家独家授权经销商，产品遍布150多个国家。包括俄罗斯、美国、英国、新西兰、沙特阿拉伯及马来西亚等。尤芳荣接着说，除了良好的品质，PowerTrac提供系列完整的产品，能够覆盖不同细分市场的需求，从日常道路使用到高性能与越野，包括缺气保用胎和商业轮胎。”
对中国轮胎的看法已经有所改变
尤芳炜说，PowerTrac在马来西亚被定位为中价位品牌，而该公司提供全系列的PowerTrac
轿车胎，从12寸到24寸。他表示，市场的反应佳。“近年来，我们发现中国轮胎是廉价和低品质的普遍看法已有所改变。中国如今拥有一些全世界最先进的轮胎工厂和自动生产程序。
事实上，许多主要品牌的高性能轮胎都是在中国制造的。我相信在未来的5至10年里，消费者不会再将注意力放在原产国家上，而是在轮胎的胶料、品质及技术。”
尤芳荣补充说，Tyrestore 与可持续性的伙伴合作。他说，有了先进的研发能力、生产技术及测试设备，山东昊华轮胎能够开发适合马来西亚路况和气候的轮胎，并在将PowerTrac 轮胎介绍给他们前进行了测试。
“PowerTrac品牌凭借着其优良品质和合理价格，从我们的Klinikar网站获得了注意和认可 。我们在11月23日于Bangsar 购物中心为代理推出了两款新轮胎– PowerTrac Adventure Pro A/T 和Racing Pro。我们为马来西亚被选为第一个推介全新Racing Pro 轮胎的国家而深感自豪，这无疑显示了本地市场的重要性，还有我们的供应商立志与我们一同携手增长PowerTrac品牌。”尤芳荣说。
尤芳炜指出，PowerTrac Racing Pro是专为高性能市场所设计，并计划于明年初推出。
Klinikar.com的诞生
传统或离线轮胎卖家在市场上，除了面对同业竞争， 还要面对主要业者在线销售轮胎，或几乎什么都销售的电子商务网站的剧烈竞争。
“我们于2017年年底创立了Klinikar.com，并在2018年3月正式启用，它不仅协助我们取得更多客户，也开拓了新族群。它还为我们的品牌和产品提供了一个更广的观众可见度，让我们能够收集超越一间传统商店能够管理，加强营销力度的数据和资讯。简而言之，我们相信轮胎制造商和代理应该利用数字化的优势，整合他们的市场地位。然而，要获得成功，在线和离线同样重要。”尤芳荣解释。
不同于其他应有尽有的电子商务平台， Klinikar是个专注于轮胎零售，同时发掘汽车维修和其他服务的汽车养护平台。
“这对消费者来说很方便，因为他/她无需开车到轮胎店后发现想要的轮胎正好缺货。我们的终极目标是为我们的电子客户提供犹如修车厂的服务。我们能够为他们提供专业建议，除了能为他们的车子选择最适配的轮胎 ，还能帮助他们选择适合他们应用的轮胎。从选择轮胎到安装，提供一个无缝且无忧的服务。”尤芳炜补充。
尤芳荣察觉到大部分的轮胎代理仍未做好数字化的准备。“他们要不是没有这方面的技能，就是缺乏资源来管理或没有时间打理他们自己的在线零售业。我们欢迎那些符合我们条件的独立修车厂加入我们的汽车养护平台。”
今天，Klinikar.com拥有38,000名注册用户和每天高达150,000的观看次数。它与18家巴生谷的修车厂合作，并计划在明年扩展至怡保和芙蓉。
