Repair Shop Research: Parts & Brand Purchasing

Repair Shop Research

Independent repair shops are where brand preference gets tested in real time. A technician who trusts your brand will order it. One who doesn’t won’t and no amount of downstream marketing fixes that. Understanding what drives those decisions is the foundation of a workable installer strategy.

IMR’s repair shop research tracks how shops buy, what they prefer, and why giving manufacturers and distributors the intelligence they need to compete at the counter and in the bay.

Shop Parts & Brand Purchasing

Our syndicated shop research tracks purchasing behavior across the full supplier and brand landscape not just what shops are buying, but who they’re buying from, why they prefer certain brands, and where your brand stands relative to the competition.

Tracked metrics include supplier usage and preference, brand awareness and consideration, loyalty drivers, premium brand perception, and shop demographics. If you’re making decisions about brand positioning, distribution strategy, or installer marketing, this is the baseline you need.

Category Insights

For clients who need to go deeper on a specific product category, IMR’s category-level shop research provides a granular view of how technicians and service writers are actually making parts decisions by vehicle origin, by brand tier, and by supplier relationship.

For each tracked category, we measure:

Brand awareness (aided and unaided) · Brand usage, consideration, and preference · Primary and secondary supplier usage by vehicle type (domestic, Asian, European) · Key brand attribute importance and satisfaction ratings · Good/better/best parts usage patterns · Premium brand purchase considerations · Average units installed

This isn’t awareness data in isolation, it’s purchase behavior tied to brand perception, so you can see exactly where your brand is earning the sale and where it’s being passed over.

Categories Tracked

A/C Parts · Brake Parts · Engine Parts · Exhaust System Parts · Filters · Lighting · Radiators, Hoses & Belts · Ride Control · Sensors · Steering & Suspension · Transmission Parts · Wiper Blades

Who this is for

Parts manufacturers use this research to benchmark brand performance, identify where they’re losing share to competitors, and build the case for premium positioning. Sales and marketing teams use it to sharpen installer-facing messaging. Channel strategists use it to evaluate supplier relationships and distribution coverage.

If repair shops are part of your go-to-market, this research belongs in your planning cycle.