WebsiteClosers® presents an eCommerce Brand in the lucrative Aftermarket Auto Parts Industry that specializes in marketing automotive lights, including headlights, taillights, and fog lights. This 5-year-old business has grown quickly, attracting a strong customer base that includes not only individual car owners but also body shops and collision centers. This has enabled the business to amass a massive catalog of 20,000+ products, mainly sourced in the U.S., and includes products from the 3 biggest and best-known suppliers of headlights.
The business offers a wide variety of products from its domestic suppliers and has been able to import specialized products from China and Taiwan at considerable profit margins. This has brought the company consistent year-over-year growth, highly enthusiastic reviews from customers, and an expanding customer base despite a low ad spend.
The company has two eCommerce businesses in one – one marketing headlights, and the second one focused on taillights and fog lights. However, sales are made primarily on the company’s Amazon store and a shop on eBay. Amazon continues to bring in the bulk of their revenue, around 90%, and the company is working to make that a 60/40 split between the two platforms. The business is also considering launching sales on its two websites, another major scale opportunity for a new owner.
Sales remain steady throughout the year, with no seasonal factors impacting them. Automotive lights are part of an evergreen and immensely profitable vertical, valued at $34 billion in 2024 and projected to increase to $58 billion by 2033. With 297 million registered vehicles in the U.S., the company appeals to its customer base with an Average Order Value of $250, and with such a large selection to choose from, including some products that are manufactured as private label. For example, if the company needs a headlight or taillight for a specific car model, their manufacturing partners will produce it for them. The company sells all SKUs under its two brand names.
This business has a highly efficient and cost-effective operation. The company doesn’t carry much stock and instead buys items from its suppliers as orders come in. The company does stock items they import from overseas, and the buyer of this company will get $300,000 in inventory that is included in the sales price, making it unlikely the new owner will need to put in new overseas orders anytime soon.
The company’s marketing is also effective without being costly. The business has relied on the internal marketing tools available from both Amazon and eBay to put their products in front of consumers searching for headlights, and the company also uses popular SEO keywords in product descriptions to boost their presence in search engines.
That leaves plenty of additional digital marketing tools to drive sales higher in the future. This business is a great opportunity for a strategic buyer to acquire it and scale it rapidly by using tools such as paid media on Google and Facebook, social media marketing on popular platforms that help build brand recognition, partnering with influencers on social media, and doing video marketing on sites such as TikTok and YouTube. The new owner could also start collecting emails on both websites for an effective email marketing campaign that promotes upsells and cross sells.
Business Broker Takeaway
We are excited about this business for 3 important reasons:
1. Efficient Operations. The business sells primarily in the U.S., marketing headlights that have been approved by the Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA), meaning a replacement automotive part has been pre-tested for value. This certification is also required by auto insurers, which is why the company frequently sells to collision centers that work with insurance companies. This also demonstrates that the suppliers they work with produce high-quality products, which is why the company gets such glowing reviews on Amazon. These products are also under a one-year warranty protection, and the company has the advantage of being able to supply lights to a very wide variety of popular car models. Since customers can’t legally drive their cars if their headlights or taillights get damaged, buyers are looking for a fast purchase, and the company can deliver on that.
2. Experienced Team. The business employs a shop manager who controls day-to-day operations on Amazon and eBay, a purchasing manager who orders from vendors, and a warehouse employee who picks up orders from suppliers and labels them. A part-time photographer manages the photos of the parts they sell, a key driver of sales on their two channels. Amazon and eBay handle most other sales tasks, and the business uses Fulfillment by Amazon for some products to ensure fast shipping and first-rate customer service. Having this experienced team in place means the new owner could put the focus on growing the business, including targeting more B2B sales to retailers and big box stores that have auto departments.
3. Diverse Product Selection. The company markets auto lights that are compatible with a wide selection of vehicles, including Acura, Audi, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, and many others. If a customer requests headlights for a vehicle the company doesn’t list, the business can order that part from their suppliers and have it made for them. The business maintains a hybrid business model of inventory, ordering from suppliers with warehouses in New Jersey and California for fast shipping on both coasts.
Conclusion
This business is operating in a highly niche sector, and in an auto-dependent nation, it’s become a vital one. Americans are prohibited from operating their motor vehicles if the lights are defective or damaged, a key reason why this company’s sales remain strong throughout the year. The business has been able to get a lot of repeat customers for commercial vehicles, and it’s easy for this business to add new products.
These sales have been accomplished without investment in a costly marketing campaign, and that provides significant scale opportunities to the new owner, who could invest in paid media on Google, social media marketing, or email newsletters to provide future growth. The company could also expand sales overseas on Amazon’s foreign platforms and ramp up marketing on its B2B sales.
