Poland’s favourite online marketplace relies on data from TecAlliance

The Polish company Allegro operates a marketplace where more than 117,000 merchants offer products in all key categories including Automotive, fashion, home & garden, electronics, books and collectibles, kids or health & beauty. Each month, 20 million customers visit allegro.pl, which is equivalent to 80 percent of all Internet users in Poland.

 As a further step to optimise the shopping experience, the company has just launched a new feature for customers interested in purchasing replacement parts on their platform. Therefore, Allegro joined forces with TecAlliance, provider of the TecDoc Catalogue, one of the world's most comprehensive replacement parts catalogues for the independent automotive aftermarket.

 “Compared to other European countries, Poland is characterised by an older car fleet than Western countries such as Germany, France or the United Kingdom, but less than the European average,” explains Przemysław Kasprzak, Business Unit Manager (Category Car Parts) at Allegro. “First of all, older cars require more frequent repairs. Owners of older vehicles more often are looking for savings so that the repair of the vehicle does not exceed its value. Searching for savings, awareness and general access to knowledge mean that online purchases of even specialised car parts often develop twice as fast as the existing channels. Our mission is to build the best shopping experience for our customers. The vast majority are garage enthusiasts, but also professional mechanics, workshops and ordinary car users,” Kasprzak adds.

Making the right choice based on high-quality data

 The TecDoc data standard was introduced by TecAlliance more than 25 years ago in order to create a uniform data format for the collection, publication and distribution of high-quality spare part product information. The TecDoc database contains accurate and comprehensive information about products and vehicles and allows to identify the correct spare part for a specific vehicle quickly and easily.

 “Uncertainties and risks are a great obstacle when buying spare parts online. In a study, we found out that 40 percent of spare parts buyers – individuals or even mechanics – are afraid of a mismatch between the product and their car and problems resulting from buying the wrong part. That’s why we wanted our customers to have all the necessary information whilst buying spare parts on our platform,” explains Kasprzak. “With its TecDoc data, TecAlliance offers an extensive support with a comprehensive database comprising vehicle reference data, OE data, and VIO (Vehicle in Operation) database if needed. The most outstanding advantages for us are the breadth of TecDoc data, the quantity of manufacturers and brands included and the product-vehicle relationship,” he adds.

 Thanks to the integration of TecDoc data, Allegro’s customers can access detailed technical data of a product, such as dimensions, substitutes, a list of models to which a given part fits etc. They can check if the part fits their car and validate their purchase decision based on the data. “We can lower the buyer’s uncertainty and risk choosing the wrong part. Professional buyers can reduce costs and speed up the parts ordering process. It is also worth mentioning here that the integration of the database is also an advantage for the sellers themselves, who put their offers online faster and easier. This leads to a remarkably improved shopping experience for every user group of allegro.pl,” Kasprzak sums up.

Click here to download the full-length interview with Przemysław Kasprzak, Business Unit Manager (Category Car Parts) at Allegro.