"The U.S. automotive aftermarket industry grew its retail sales by 2.5% in 2018, according to The NPD Group. In addition to favorable weather early in the year, this increase was fueled by the fundamentals of the industry being strong: More vehicles are on the road, the average age of vehicles is trending older, and the majority of consumers are unconcerned about higher gasoline prices."

"The weather played an important role in the aftermarket’s performance in 2018, as frequent winter storms helped the industry grow 4% through November; however, a milder December softened the full year trend. Looking into the product category types, the maintenance & repair and chemicals, additives, and fluids category groups grew in 2018 while accessories and appearance products declined. Largely driven by the weather, wipers, washer fluid, and lighting were the best performing segments of the market. Accessory type categories were some of the worst performing, likely impacted by a sales shift from brick-​and-​mortar retail to e‑commerce."

Indeed, many Auto Aftermarket Accessories Buyers value e‑commerce. Within just the last six months, 51.3% of these consumers have used a mobile device to purchase products, according to AudienceSCAN. To find these products, 59.1% have used a search engine within the last month to research a product they were considering and, within the last six months, 35.8% have used a mobile device to watch a video about a product they were considering.

"E‑commerce continues to change the landscape of the aftermarket. Online dollar sales for the industry grew by over 30% in 2018, according to NPD’s Checkout E‑commerce data. The data also shows that accessory sales, in particular, have been impacted by e‑commerce. Almost seven million consumers purchased an exterior accessory online in 2018, and the category has seen its buyer count increase significantly during this time. E‑commerce is also altering the aftermarket retail landscape through ‘buy online, pick up in store,’ as nearly 80% of the e‑commerce dollar volume is picked up at a retail location rather than being delivered to a home." 

“'Overall it was a strong sales year for the aftermarket, with macro trends and Mother Nature playing in the industry’s favor,' said Nathan Shipley, executive director and automotive industry analyst, The NPD Group. 'Though my expectation is that the aftermarket will see little to no growth in 2019, there are players that will outperform this forecast. Game-​changing moves are happening, from strategic partnerships and new entrants into the marketplace, to free shipping and new technologies from existing online platforms. While this may cause disruption, it will also ignite the industry with new opportunities.'”

Auto Aftermarket Accessories Shoppers are responsive to digital advertisements. Last year, according to AudienceSCAN, these consumers took action after receiving email ads (60.8%), clicking on text link ads on websites (53.8%) and hearing both digital and over-​the-​air radio ads (62.8%). Try pairing digital ads with traditional. Also within the last year, 75.6% took action after seeing a TV commercial and 58.6% were motivated to action by newspaper ads. These consumers are also 53% more likely than other adults to be driven to action by outdoor ads.

AudienceSCAN data is available for your applications and dashboards through the SalesFuel API. Media companies and agencies can access AudienceSCAN data through the AudienceSCAN Reports in AdMall.