Most web site redesigns present a new face to consumers. Auto and auto parts site RacingJunk.com’s redesign incorporates a new back end to accommodate an explosion in visitors. RacingJunk.com’s traffic doubled in the past year to 500,000 unique visitors a month and 13 million page views, Rob Adams, director of sales and marketing, tells InternetRetailer.com. “We did a complete back-end redesign to open up the bandwidth,” Adams says.
RacingJunk.com is a site for consumers to sell autos and auto parts. Listings are free but RacingJunk charges fees for enhancements to listings, such as photos or featured positions. RacingJunk also promotes an honor system in which it asks sellers to pay suggested fees after a sale. About 10% of sellers actually pay the fees.
Among the improvements was more functionality to allow users to buy package deals so they don’t have to pay separately for each enhancement. Users can also buy memberships, at $6.95 a month or $49.95 a year, that gives them a range of listing options. Members have grown from 13,000 a year ago to 46,000.
In addition, RacingJunk earlier this week implemented a rewards program that recognizes sellers who make payments through the honor system. Members earn points for honor payments that they can use to buy enhanced listings at the site. In addition, Adams says, RacingJunk highlights the honor sellers’ listings and hopes the honor points will increase a seller’s credibility and make buyers more likely to trust those sellers and thus more likely to buy from them.
RacingJunk has achieved its growth with very little marketing, Adams says. User surveys show that 85% of visitors find the site through word-of-mouth recognition. “A lot of credit goes to the racers. They really push it,” Adams says.
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