How Canada Wheels rose to success by embracing the digital world

Identifying this gap in the market gave Taebi his “in” and in 2012 he launched CanadaWheels.ca Opens in a new window.. The relationships he built with manufacturers here at home and in other countries helped get the business off the ground.

Today, Taebi proudly highlights that “the company is an award-winning e-commerce platform that radically simplifies the process of buying tires, wheels and automotive parts.”

Before CanadaWheels.ca entered the market, Taebi noted that the auto parts market was very traditional. His company was the first player to execute direct shipping to customers, effectively evolving the auto parts space. “Traditionally the auto part manufacturers would sell to distributors, then distributors would sell to wholesalers, then wholesalers would sell to retailers, and finally retailers would sell to the end consumers,” he said. “When we came into the picture, we disrupted the supply chain as we mainly go directly from manufacturers to customers. The result is that customers see many more options at a better price, with faster delivery.”

“Our philosophy is that what we want for ourselves as shoppers, we also want for our clients,” Taebi said. “Around ten years ago, we were the first in Canada to offer free shipping on automotive parts around, at a time when offering free shipping on online transactions wasn’t a common practice. We were also the first in Canada to introduce a wheel visualization option, so customers could visualize the rims on their car before they bought them. We just want to help people. We’re not trying to sell or upsell. We just want to give an amazing user experience along with a really good quality product. And we fit in the whole ecosystem in a way that’s focused on what’s good for our clients — that’s really important for us. But we also want our manufacturers to be profitable. When people request returns, we sit in a fair place between customers and manufacturers.”

Ultimately, Taebi wants CanadaWheels.ca to be the Amazon for auto parts in Canada and beyond — a one-stop shop.

As CanadaWheels.ca has grown, they’ve offered many services for their customers, such as faster delivery, more inventory options, and savings. Taebi explained that when a client places an order with us, they can expect their delivery, anywhere in Canada, within a day or two. “We also have a network of certified installers to make the installation process as seamless as possible.”

Taebi highlights that these changes happened as the pandemic made them accelerate their plans and rethink their business model. “With everybody staying at home, more people are shopping online. So, we jumped on the opportunity to expand our product offerings to include more automotive accessories. We’ve seen a big spike in online shopping and leads.”

During the pandemic and beyond, Taebi aims to be constantly innovating. With this mindset, CanadaWheels.ca has started incorporating AI models into their system. “The models keep getting perfected with more data points, but essentially the idea here is if we have our customers’ vehicle information, and we have so many other parts that fit their car, we can use the data and suggest other items they might need or like. For example, if a customer is on the website looking at roof racks, we can show them compatible bike racks or ski racks that also fit their car,” he said. “This can also be extended to education emails, informing our customers about the season change and that it’s the recommended time to change over their tires or other reminders.”

But that’s not all. Things have continued to develop for CanadaWheels.ca as their staff has grown from 12 people in Ottawa in 2020 to more than 30 people in 2022. Over the last few years, the company has seen steady increases in their sales and hopes to continue to build on this momentum. To help them achieve these goals, the company has added over 750 brands of automotive parts and accessories to their site. “We now offer over two million unique SKUs,” Taebi says. “We also expanded beyond automotive goods and we now sell boating and bicycle products, along with a lot of garage and toolroom products.”

In addition, to celebrate their 10th anniversary, CanadaWheels.ca is rolling into the United States. They’re launching their new American operation under the brand USAWheels.com in 2022.

To that effect, Taebi shares that it feels great to be leading the change of an industry. “My habit of dreaming big hasn’t dwindled at all — we’re still full steam ahead. It’s amazing to have a team around me that is passionate every day.”

One major challenge that Taebi has faced in recent times is with securing supplies and shipping. He explained that in many cases there’s not enough supply. “Sometimes manufacturers can cause delays in shipping and while there are reasons for it, at the end of the day, it impacts our customers. It’s the same supply challenge for shipping. There’s a lot of demand in Canada for shipping, and not enough people and resourcing in our shipping industry. So a lot of the vendors and suppliers we work with are experiencing delays. Our customers see this as an experience from Canada Wheels and they don’t understand how our vendors impact it. We put ourselves in the customer’s shoes and we try to help as much as we can. So communication is important, and owning the whole supply chain, and being transparent with our clients to set correct expectations. We have to own the whole experience, at the end of the day.”

On another note, the grand aspirations for CanadaWheels.ca come with a price tag. Taebi notes that he has taken the approach of bootstrapping the company and has abstained from raising money. “For me, the hardest part is staying efficient and spending only as much as we earn and not beyond that. We’re just so organically busy and have so many exciting new verticals in our pipeline. Raising capital may eventually happen, especially for our new market expansions, but up until now, everything has been bootstrapped and the growth has been organic.”

Instead of raising money, Taebi listened to his mentors, who have encouraged him to stick to his principles and continue to grow organically. “Recently, we contacted CIBC in order to get an operating line of credit attached to our business account. This is very similar to raising millions of dollars without giving away equity.”