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Amazon to Launch Motorcycle Installation Services at ‘Amazon-Approved’ Dealerships

Amazon to Launch Motorcycle Installation Services at ‘Amazon-Approved’ Dealerships

Beginning on April 1st,  e-commerce giant Amazon will be launching something new and aimed specifically at motorcyclists: The company says we can expect to see “Would you like your motorcycle tires installed at an Amazon-approved dealer?” showing up on shopping carts for customers in major cities across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

The service will be Amazon’s take on buy-online-install-in-store model popularized by other e-tailers. It will give motorcyclists the opportunity to have the motorcycle tires they purchase online installed at their local brick-and-mortar dealerships they next time riders need to replace their motorcycle tires. Amazon has similar pilot programs happening on the automobile side, but this would be a first in the motorcycle world.

“Buying tires online can sometimes come with savings to motorcyclists, but the downside is the added hassle of having to receive those motorcycle tires, and then find a way to bring them, along with the bike itself, down to the local motorcycle dealership. We’re eliminating that stress point for consumers.”

– Shelley Stevens, Powersports Category Manager at Amazon.

For new riders, the challenge is a little bit greater. New motorcyclists, especially younger ones who are still establishing themselves in life are less likely to have what Amazon calls an “alternative vehicle” (i.e. a car) to bring those tires purchased online to the shop. Moreover, being new to motorcycling, they may not have pre-existing motorcycle shop loyalty, or be sure of which shops are trustworthy. That’s where Amazon’s direct-to-the-dealer format would come into play:

“Motorcyclists would be able to buy online, and have the tires delivered directly to an Amazon-approved dealership for installation at their convenience. Dealerships are subject to achieving and maintaining Amazon’s strict dealer program guidelines in order to partner with the program.” 

– Shelley Stevens, Powersports Category Manager at Amazon.

She declined to comment when asked if Amazon’s user reviews and ratings systems would extend to dealership locations and services. I hope this will be the case, as I often find that user reviews reveal a good amount of insight into product performance, quality, and value.

Shelley Stevens

The move for Amazon to partner with motorcycle dealerships as Amazon-approved installation locations should come as no surprise. 

  • In 2017, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was the first tire manufacturer to launch a buy-online-install-in-store service, for their aligned Goodyear Tire and Service Network-aligned location
  • Two years later, other manufacturers, such as Goodyear’s rival, Michelin, have followed suit 
  • Today, other automobile tire OEMs that may not necessarily have as strong of a network as Goodyear and Michelin are leveraging their retail partners such as Wal-Mart to launch new pilot programs

When asked if Amazon-aligned dealerships—called “Amazon-approved motorcycle installation facilities”—would expand beyond motorcycle tire installation, Stevens again neglected to comment. At this point, being a small online-only publication, that was all I could get out of the Amazon representative.

The new program will be launching on April 1st, which is just two weeks away, so we’ll hopefully have more answers then. At present there are over 550 Amazon-approved motorcycle installation facilities, and another 250 more are expected to receive their certification before launch.

As an aside, the launch of the program also happens to coincide with April Fool’s Day.

See what I did there?

About Adrian from YouMotorcycle

I started riding motorcycles in 2007, founded YouMotorcycle in 2009, and was working in the motorcycle industry by 2011. I've worked for some of the biggest companies in motorcycling, before going full-time self-employed in the motorcycle business in 2019. I love sharing his knowledge and passion of motorcycling with other riders to help you as best I can.

One comment

  1. So I read that whole article only to find out it’s an April Fool’s Day joke? What a waste of time.

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