RockAuto's website: do you like it?

Put aside other discussions about getting the wrong parts, or customer service, or whatever. The question is: Do you think RockAuto has a good website that is easy to use / you like using? 

I only ask because a friend of mine is in marketing and works designing big-time websites (including some from major car parts manufacturers) and she absolutely hates RockAuto's site., especially that the mobile/smartphone version.

I personally like it and I have virtually no complaints about its functionality. Yeah, it's old-school looking. But it's super-easy to use and find what you want compared to ANY other parts website I can think of....

So, your thoughts? 

I love their site! You want to see garbage in the parts industry?? The Advance Auto website! It's INFURIATING. I can't even list all the ways it pisses me off. Amazon is second worst. You can find parts there, as long as you're not trying to filter by vehicle. Once you input a vehicle (or try to) it all goes to E36 M3.

I don't like their site 

their customer service is also terrible 

I buy there because cheap. Though last two suspension setup I opted for tire rack instead 

Vigo said:

I love their site! You want to see garbage in the parts industry?? The Advance Auto website! It's INFURIATING. I can't even list all the ways it pisses me off. Amazon is second worst. You can find parts there, as long as you're not trying to filter by vehicle. Once you input a vehicle (or try to) it all goes to E36 M

agree on both counts. Amazon is only worthwhile if you have the exact part number, really.  I hate Advance Auto's site with a passion and never order from there unless I have a big coupon to use on something I need to pick up at the local advance that day, anyhow.  

I love their website. The only one I can think of that's better is McMaster Carr. Tell your friend that modern mainstream web design is garbage. Speed and usability should be absolute priority one but that's a total rarity nowadays. If the page reloads instantly when you change a filter it sucks. If the page has endless scroll it sucks, hard. (My favorite there is companies that put links at the bottom of the page but then have endless scroll.. berkeleying geniuses.) I could go on.

mr2s2000elise said:

I don't like their site 

their customer service is also terrible 

I buy there because cheap. Though last two suspension setup I opted for tire rack instead 

What is it you don't like about the site, out of curiosity? It it a functional thing, or just you don't like the style or appearance?

dculberson said:

I love their website. The only one I can think of that's better is McMaster Carr. Tell your friend that modern mainstream web design is garbage. Speed and usability should be absolute priority one but that's a total rarity nowadays. If the page reloads instantly when you change a filter it sucks. If the page has endless scroll it sucks, hard. (My favorite there is companies that put links at the bottom of the page but then have endless scroll.. berkeleying geniuses.) I could go on.

McMaster's site is truly awesome. 

I find their web site the best parts reference site ever.  My local auto parts store uses Rock Auto to find and reference parts and parts numbers as well (they can't touch Rock Auto's pricing though....). I love the web site.

irish44j said:

mr2s2000elise said:

I don't like their site 

their customer service is also terrible 

I buy there because cheap. Though last two suspension setup I opted for tire rack instead 

What is it you don't like about the site, out of curiosity? It it a functional thing, or just you don't like the style or appearance?

 

Yes I would like it to look like 2007, instead of 1988. I agree with your friend, the designer 

that said, their web site would be more tolerable if they improved their customer service 

mr2s2000elise said:

irish44j said:

mr2s2000elise said:

I don't like their site 

their customer service is also terrible 

I buy there because cheap. Though last two suspension setup I opted for tire rack instead 

What is it you don't like about the site, out of curiosity? It it a functional thing, or just you don't like the style or appearance?

 

Yes I would like it to look like 2007, instead of 1988. I agree with your friend, the designer 

 

that said, their web site would be more tolerable if they improved their customer service 

I'd venture to say that, like pretty much all companies, the people who make the websites have little to do with direct customer service (and vice versa). 

2007 is random. What is a 2007 website you like? I expect she would not like a 2007 website either, since it's 2019 :D

And yes, this thread is just a crowd-source for a personal discussion with a third party - I have no stake in whether you like the website, company, etc. and it makes no difference to me, as I don't work in the car parts, web design, or customer service industry ;)

Does she understand the purpose behind the Rock Auto site? Is she just hung up on it not being pretty? I can hardly imagine how it could work better than it does. 

Ask her how she thinks it should work. I'd like to hear that. 

The Rock Auto website is as good as it gets for auto parts. The shear volume of data and rapid searchability is superb, as are the part comparo. pictures. This is data mining, it ain't entertainment.

I use it for reference all the time.  It may be old fashioned, but it's intuitive - you can find your application quickly and easily.

Love it, super easy to use and very well layed out. The only improvement they could offer is tweaking the "ships from same location" function a bit so you don't end up playing shipping location tetris to try and find the lowest shipping combo.  Sometimes it's cheaper to make two orders vs one order, buying all the same parts.

I like it.

I can't stand the way websites have had to go more "mobile-friendly" to rank well in Google. The "new" way is crap.  I mean, what the hell was wrong with Win95, anyway?

I also don't understand Instagram - I am not seeing the order and logic that I need.  And FB makes re-located good reference material impossible. 

Hmmm.  I might be getting old.  Get off my lawn.

I like how simple the rock auto site is. I would prefer some more details on a part; however, cross-referencing part numbers makes that task an easy kill in another open tab. Autozone, Advance auto, and O'Reilly sites are the big suck. 

Summit is often times a pain to search through if you aren't looking for a domestic car. 

I think it's fine. Not perfect, but relatively easy to use. I think that some websites become broken useless trash as a side effect of their efforts to make them look "slick" or "modern" or whatever.

I did not like the rockauto website drill down style until I figured out search on the parts and the car all in one line.  The completion is menu based, unless I am missing tab completion.  Any previous complaint they show me parts that are not for sale to california and don't tell me until I go to checkout, annoying and easily fixed yet it isn't.

It's not a pretty site, but there's nothing faster for finding the exact part you want.

You can start typing and within seconds be looking at the parts you are trying to find. No filling out a bunch of dropdown menus (make, model, etc.)

And the interface doesn't have bunch of padding and clutter -- stuff loads quickly. You don't have to scroll all over the place or wait for a bunch of Javascript to load to see the information you need. Or go to page 10 of 50 to find the part you want.

I get that it's out of step with modern web design (I work in web development myself), but it's a site selling car parts. People are looking for brand, price, and a picture that confirms it's the part they're looking for. Nice fonts, drop shadows, and smooth animations aren't going to make anyone hit the "buy" button any faster. It's a specialized type of design for a specific user.

I feel like McMaster's site is an even better example of this. Fairly pleasing aesthetically but also hyper-focused on getting you exactly what you need in a minimum amount of time.

It ain't pretty, but it berking works. It's the easiest way to find parts, even if you just use it to search for part numbers to shop other websites (because their search function sucks). 

I want to hate it due to how outdated it looks, but I cant. It just works and its easy to navigate. 

When I am at work, I'll use Rock Auto's website to quickly find part numbers because all of the "professional" parts catalogs are almost universally garbage.  Once I find something, we'll blow that number in to the cross-reference function and that will spit out a part number we can order from our supplier.

Yes it's simple.  No it doesn't have pictures half the screen size with animated buttons.  That is why it is superior.  It's a tool for cataloging parts.  Max info with minimal cruft.  If you want to see pictures, you can click on things.

Rockauto's site isn't pretty or fancy or modern, but it does the job pretty well.