This year has been a busy one as the automotive aftermarket is gearing up for an equally busy 2025. We’ve seen some dominant trends, such as a specific focus on parts data integrity, the growing importance of automation in automotive eCommerce, growth in the EV market, demand for niche-focused automotive features and evolving customers’ expectations regarding website product search, accuracy in parts compatibility and fast delivery times.

All these trends will likely stay with us in 2025, opening new opportunities for those businesses that successfully adapt to new market conditions. And this is much easier to do with the right technology in your corner.  

In the new automotive landscape, X-Cart has been striving to be on the same page with the industry demands, providing its online stores with more helpful tools, new warehouse distributor integrations, and features that meet the specific requirements of automotive eCommerce. 

We’ll share the highlights of the past year, showcasing the most prominent improvements in X-Cart’s automotive eCommerce platform and how they will help you grow your business further.

Here’s a quick roundup of our major enhancements.

1. Native Integrations with Catalog Providers and Multi-Catalog Functionality

Data integrity takes center stage in the automotive aftermarket given the sheer volume of data you need to manage and present your customers in a comprehensive way. Without data consistency and accuracy, you risk facing problems such as lost sales, higher return rates, increased operational costs while managing these logistics issues, and, eventually, loss of customer trust. 

In contrast, with the right automation tools and robust connections with data suppliers, you can work out a solution that will help you avoid data management headaches.

The solution that X-Cart offers includes consolidating and effectively managing all your parts data from one place. This year we’ve rolled out and keep enhancing our Multi-Catalog functionality, allowing you to create your own catalog by importing product data from multiple sources: SEMA Data, ASAP Network, and AutoSync.

And not only this. You can fine-tune your data imports to suit your needs:

• Import new products and update existing ones;  
• Add new products only;  
• Update existing products only; 
• Adjust which parts of the product data get updated (product names, descriptions, images, fitment details, or prices); 
• Align the category structure between your X-Cart store’s and the provider’s catalogs with the Category Mapping feature; 
• Set your imports on auto-pilot with the Import Schedule feature to set the start time of the next import.

Having accurate fitment data, product descriptions, and images isn’t just a nice-to-have — it’s a must. Think of it as the engine that keeps your business running smoothly. If your data is sharp and neat, sales speed up.

2. Warehouse Distributor Integrations and Multi-WD

In the automotive world, inventory management is everything. It’s not just about knowing what’s in stock – it’s about controlling your levels, making sure everything’s visible, and, most importantly, avoiding that “out-of-stock” nightmare while customers are ready to buy.

So, how do you keep things running smoothly? With X-Cart, you can take the most of your inventory with trusted suppliers, automated stock updates, and multi-WD integration.

This year, we rolled out four more integrations with credible automotive warehouse distributors that specialize in various parts niches including performance parts, wheels and tires, off-road parts and accessories, and more:

• Keystone Automotive Operations
• Meyer Distributing
• American Tire Distributors (ATD)
• Wheel Pros

And let’s not forget about the integration with Turn 14 Distribution, which we’ve been supporting since 2023. Our in-house development team creates all the integrations, so you don’t have to worry about their maintenance or any additional costs for connecting them to your online store. What’s more, you can source inventory from multiple warehouse distributors simultaneously – this is multi-WD functionality.

Multi-WD allows you to create a custom product catalog by importing data from multiple sources, consolidating it, syncing, and using it as a single, reliable source of truth.

Here’s what you can achieve with Multi-WD:

• Expand Your Offerings: Grow your product range and introduce new brands by sourcing stock from trusted warehouse distributors.
• Simplify Data Management: Import inventory and pricing details directly into your X-Cart store from multiple distributors.
• Customizable Updates: Choose to update stock and prices together or only update stock or price as needed, tailoring the data to your preferences.
• Automate Updates: Set a schedule that automatically updates stock and pricing information, saving time and effort.
• Streamline Ordering: Use automated purchase order creation to leverage distributor stock.
• Effortless Fulfillment: Fulfill orders directly from your distributors’ stock with drop shipping options.

By tapping into your distributor’s warehouse, you can drastically cut logistics costs and avoid the hassle of maintaining your own storage space. This means no storage or maintenance fees, leading to greater efficiency and potentially higher profitability for your business.

3. Advanced Fitment

Did you know that 80% of customers who can’t find what they need on the first try are unlikely to shop with that company again? That’s why it’s essential to help your customers find and purchase parts that are fully compatible with their vehicles.

These enhancements reduce the risk of customers buying incompatible parts, which means fewer returns and a smoother experience for your business and car parts buyers. By streamlining fitment accuracy, you can build trust, boost satisfaction, and keep your customers coming back.

4. Facilitated Price Management

Pricing in the automotive aftermarket can be challenging, especially when dealing with fluctuating costs, MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) policies, and maintaining consistent profit margins. X-Cart’s new price management features are designed to help merchants overcome these hurdles.

Maintain Profit Margins Automatically

You can set a target profit margin for each brand individually, using Cost Price, MSRP, or Jobber Price as the base. If your prices drop below the margin you’ve defined, they will automatically adjust to meet your safety rule. This ensures your margins remain healthy, even as market conditions shift.

Simplify MAP Compliance

Staying compliant with MAP policies is easier with flexible options for managing Minimum Advertised Prices:

• Vendor’s MAP: Use the MAP provided by your specific vendor.
• Highest MAP: Opt for the highest MAP from all suppliers to optimize pricing.
• Disable MAP Enforcement: When compliance isn’t required, you can turn off enforcement altogether.

These features are designed to make pricing management easier and more efficient, giving you one less thing to worry about while running your store, providing several benefits for your business, namely:

• Avoid underpricing while maintaining competitive and transparent pricing for your customers.
• Reduce manual work with automated price adjustments.
• Adapt your pricing approach to meet business goals and compliance requirements.

5. Amazon API Integration

Expanding to new sales channels can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. The Amazon and X-Cart integration allows you to connect with Amazon’s massive customer base while keeping all your operations centralized in one place. From product listings to inventory management to order fulfillment, this integration takes the complexity out of multi-channel selling so you can focus on growth.

Product Listing Creation

Listing products on Amazon is straightforward. You can connect your X-Cart store to your Amazon Seller Central account, select the products you want to sell, and map them to Amazon’s categories – all directly from your X-Cart dashboard. Additionally, you can sync details like product descriptions, images, and pricing, keeping your listings consistent and up to date.

Inventory management

Stock levels are automatically synced between X-Cart and Amazon, ensuring your inventory is always accurate. This eliminates the risk of overselling or running out of stock, helping you maintain customer trust and satisfaction. You can even set up regular updates to keep everything running smoothly without constant manual input.

Order management

Processing Amazon orders is just as simple. Orders placed on Amazon are automatically imported into your X-Cart store, where you can manage them alongside your other sales. This centralized approach streamlines order fulfillment and reduces the risk of errors, saving you time and effort.

Global Parts Sales

For merchants looking to expand internationally, the integration also supports Amazon Marketplaces in Canada, Mexico, and Brazil, giving you access to even more customers.

Summing up: This integration isn’t just about selling on Amazon; it’s about simplifying how you manage your business. Keeping inventory accurate, streamlining order fulfillment, and making product listing easy help you avoid the common headaches of multi-channel parts selling.

6. Automotive Website Design

A well-designed website isn’t just a digital storefront; it’s a tool to enhance customer convenience and deliver tangible value, especially when it comes to the brand’s authenticity and ease of website search.

As customer demand evolves, websites prioritizing user-centric, niche-focused functionality will likely get better traction among car parts buyers. To help our clients stay ahead, we’ve developed three more mobile-first design templates explicitly tailored for the automotive industry.

Wheels & Tires: Incorporate advanced fitment filters and search tools for precise tire matching. Additionally, you can connect it to the wheel and tire visualizer by AutoSync, which lets customers virtually see how products fit their specific vehicle models.

Auto Manufacturers: Showcase extensive product lines for a single brand or multiple offerings. Implement fitment search tools and interactive maps that help users locate nearby dealers, ensuring a smoother path from browsing to purchase.

Auto Performance: Reinforce your brand’s authenticity by optimizing visuals and functionality to cater to your niche audience. Use high-impact imagery and features that highlight your unique offerings to build trust and engagement.

Each of our automotive themes supports built-in Year/Make/Model Search and VIN lookup, enabled by default in all X-Cart stores.

7. Customer Experience Features

Customer experience trends are now shaping the automotive sector and influencing how car parts are discovered and perceived by buyers. This new normal dictates new approaches for online businesses to cater to clients’ needs.

We understand how vital customer loyalty is for automotive businesses, which is why we’ve created tools designed to strengthen trust, enhance your website’s credibility, and provide better shopping experiences. Three features we’re particularly excited about are Dealer Locator, Customer Gallery, and Core Charge.

Let’s take a closer look at each of them.

Dealer Locator

This interactive feature allows your customers to find trusted, authorized dealers and retailers in their area. The map provides key contact information, making it easy for buyers to locate and reach out to reliable sellers nearby. It’s a simple way to build trust while streamlining the customer journey.

Learn more about the Dealer Locator add-on. 

Customer Gallery

This tool gives you the ability to showcase real-world examples of how your products look on the vehicles. Customers can upload photos of their upgraded cars, which you can feature on a dedicated gallery page. Each image links to detailed pages that include car specs, additional photos, and direct links to the parts used – tires, rims, body kits, and other upgrades.

Learn more about the Customer Gallery add-on.

Core Charge

Add an option that allows you to set a fee your customers pay when buying a part. This fee will be returned to them when they send the old part back to you. This initiative not only incentivizes parts recycling, helping customers save money on new replacements but also plays a vital role in protecting our environment.

Learn more about the Core Charge add-on.

These features are designed to make the shopping experience more engaging, trustworthy, and inspiring for your customers. You can also get an overview of all the improvements and new features that X-Cart developed in 2024.

What’s Ahead in 2025?

The future of the automotive aftermarket industry looks bright, with projections for 2025 pointing to steady market growth, technological innovations, and shifting consumer behaviors. 

At X-Cart, we’re committed to helping you not just keep pace but lead the way in this evolving landscape. Some exciting projects are still under wraps, including new helpful tools and more integrations with warehouse distributors. Together, we can turn these market opportunities into your business’s success story.