Michelin marks its e-commerce presence in Australia and Asia Pacific with the acquisition of Tyroola, Australia’s third largest online player for tyres and fitting services. Through the acquisition, the Group intends to further strengthen its knowledge of customer behavior and the purchasing process and thus continue to offer the best possible experience, from online information seeking, right up to tyre fitting. Tyroola will continue to operate under its existing brand.
Tyroola has an extensive selection of brands and models offering over 52,000 SKUs to consumers who wish to purchase online. These consumers can subsequently have their tyres fit in one of the more than 700 fitting centers across Australia and New Zealand.
The development of e-commerce is one of the tyre market’s structural trends. Seeking information online has therefore become an essential step for 2 out of 3* motorists in the weeks preceding the purchase of new tyres. Today, a significant share of these people complete their purchase online – a trend which is expected to strengthen in the years ahead.
“Tyroola has experienced strong growth since its inception in 2014” says Andreas Voss, CEO of Tyroola. “The company has sold over 650,000 tyres to more than 120,000 customers and currently accounts for 16% of the Australian online tyre sales market to private individuals.”
“Michelin is excited that Tyroola joins the existing eRetail companies of the Michelin Group within the Business Direction for Distribution, Services & Solutions” says Lorraine Frega, Executive Vice-President of Business Line Services and Solutions. “This strategic investment broadens Michelin’s eRetail footprint. In fact, Australia represents the seventh country that we invest in after Canada, Egypt, France, Italy, South Africa and the UK.”
A significant investment for the region and Australia specifically, the acquisition of Tyroola underlines the Group’s commitment to the region and its people.
