Future-Proof Your Shop – Auto Repair Trends for 2022

Auto repair trends you see at your shop

• Even five years ago, 30 percent of shop owners were reluctant to order auto parts online. Back then, they worried about paying too much or making a mistake. Now, our shops cannot imagine going through a day without using auto parts inventory management software via our Native Parts Catalog.
• Before, we used to start every repair order from scratch. These days, you can tap into canned jobs and past services to save minutes on every estimate using intel from previous auto repairs. Even better, those quotes ending up being FAR more accurate!
• When it came to doing the books, each shop had its own set of car counts and AROs. Most of the time, you had to track them through separate accounts. Now, you can blend it with your auto repair software to measure whatever KPI you want from auto parts to labor. That level of analytics gives you far more time to plan your strategy – or get out and play for a change of pace.

Auto repair trends for 2022 in your analytics

Shop-Ware’s analytics deliver the key performance indicators that auto repair shop owners need to see where their business is heading. Even better, each shop can set their parameters to suit their preferences. Now, you can slice and dice your business metrics to keep pace with auto repair trends for 2022 and beyond.

Those are just three items that have changed repair shop software so much for the better. However, Shop-Ware always responds to auto repair trends to make life in shops even easier and more profitable.

Here are a few of our latest innovations:

Parts GP Optimizer

Remember when the parts matrix was seen as a brilliant way to price auto parts to your best advantage? It has since evolved into the Parts GP Optimizer that makes more money for shops on every transaction. According to our top-performing shops, this auto parts pricing feature more than pays for Shop-Ware within a year.

Stop wasting mental energy to work out profit per part and how you’re tracking it through the month. Our algorithm works that out for you without overcharging your customers. It takes your usual markups, sales history and GP target and does the math for you.

As a bonus, it also tracks your inventory and sales data along the way. This all happens without getting tied down to a server as you work in the cloud.

Digital Vehicle Experience

Digital vehicle inspections are great, but what if you have live chat capability as part of your platform. With our Digital Vehicle Experience (DVX™), you get that as part of its immersive, interactive eCommerce experience that blows customers minds with its ease of use. You have to truly see it to believe how much better it is than the traditional DVI.

For years, we have made it look easy to fix cars when it actually takes a great deal of expertise. Show customers how great – and talented – you and your staff are at identifying problems and solving them. Cars get more complex every year so why not brag a little about how much skill you need to get them back on the road?

With DVX, you can show customers pictures, videos, and other digital assets so they gain an understanding on their own time. Let them show a trusted friend what you see under the hoist. Then live chat with them like other professional retailers do. This is the future of auto repair.

Capacity

And finally, we’ve found a way to replace walking into the bays to see how busy people are. Now, you can tell if and when you can take on another client. With Capacity, you can gauge how many hours each tech has worked and how many hours they have left to squeeze in another repair.

Get an overview of each tech’s available hours and see if delays arise from parts orders or customer approvals. You see it all on one screen without opening more tabs or adding up timesheet data or daily revenue.

This summary arises from the data from each repair order so you can count on it to be deadly accurate . This applies to each day, week and month so you can catch up after a slow period. Track all of the work in progress by status, including car counts and GP dollars, to analyze the pipeline at any given moment. You’ll never miss your targets again.

Your staff can see where they can help out, thanks to clear design, ranking of information and real-time updates.

Adapt to auto repair trends or die

Many shop owners find themselves at a crossroads where they can adapt or die. We have seen people who feel they have learned all they want to in their careers. Given that outlook, they may want to hang up their wrenches for good. After all, embracing change can feel hard.

However, that turnover creates great opportunities for those who want to buy up those shops and carry on their legacies. When you add the right tools to guide your future, it’s much easier to find success on the horizon.