{"id":7296,"date":"2017-03-29T19:42:20","date_gmt":"2017-03-30T01:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/?p=7296"},"modified":"2017-03-29T20:17:02","modified_gmt":"2017-03-30T02:17:02","slug":"playing-not-to-lose-tire-rack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/?p=7296","title":{"rendered":"Playing not to lose: Tire Rack"},"content":{"rendered":"

Swapping snow for summer recently, a kind service tech mentioned that it was time to replace my warm weather tires.<\/p>\n

I thought a bit while he researched several in stock options. Having purchased tires from tirerack.com before, I looked for them in the app store. Alas, no app, just a “responsive” website. I gave the website a try on my large iPhone. The experience, at best was not great, at worst tedious and unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the service tech returned with several options, and after offering a reasonable, installed price, I agreed to the Pirellis.<\/p>\n

Later, driving with the new tires, I considered the possibilities:<\/p>\n

A. What would a great tire app experience be?<\/p>\n

B. Why has tire rack avoided an app experience? <\/p>\n

C. Have the SEO types won the day at Tire Rack? In other words, playing not to lose?<\/p>\n

Some ideas:<\/p>\n

1. Simplify<\/p>\n

The user takes a photo of the car (and tires\/tread?). The app recognizes the car and displays options. Tap to buy (and schedule with my calendar). <\/p>\n

The Shazam app experience offers inspiration.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

2. Auto-populate details<\/p>\n

a. Add metadata including my location, date and time. <\/p>\n

b. Leverage car connectivity, from bluetooth to CarPlay and Android Auto. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

3. Reminders<\/p>\n

a. Seasonal<\/p>\n

b. Maintenance<\/p>\n

c. Measure wear via the camera app?<\/p>\n

d. Use notifications wisely, with an occasional calendar event. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

4. Sensors<\/p>\n

Presumably smart tires loom. <\/p>\n

Might the tire companies leverage the data and build relationships with smartphone users, perhaps part of, or around auto systems?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Greenspace. <\/p>\n

I sense that the ingredients are present, if not imminent for an interesting and useful app.<\/p>\n

Further, will the auto information layer include an orifice model – my way or the highway – or, will a bazaar approach emerge, where suppliers offer their own services, as part of or around the integrators?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Swapping snow for summer recently, a kind service tech mentioned that it was time to replace my warm weather tires. I thought a bit while he researched several in stock options. Having purchased tires from tirerack.com before, I looked for them in the app store. Alas, no app, just a “responsive” website. I gave the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7296"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7296"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7303,"href":"https:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7296\/revisions\/7303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}