On 10/13/05, Eric@megageek.com <Eric@megageek.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> AutoZone uses the vehicle registations to know what kind of cars are in the
> area of their stores. During the interview, the owner of one of the stores
> made it sound like they also have an idea of what breaks and when. He
> said... (from memory)
> "We not only know how many 9 year old Ford Tarsus are out there, but we
> know what they should need soon."
>
Well, sure. You'd be nuts if you didn't. It costs a lot to stock an
autoparts store. It costs even more to stock an autoparts store with
parts you won't sell, even if you engage in the sort of
anti-competitive practices that autozone does. If you know what the
vehicle population is, you can get a pretty good sense of what you're
going to sell, based on what you've sold in the past. It's pretty
basic data analysis.
--
David Scheidt
dmscheidt@gmail.com
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