Aftermarket might be your biggest untapped growth channel

A Guide for B2B Ecommerce, built for teams selling configurable products or spare parts.

Most manufacturers who sell online built their webshop around new equipment sales, and many haven't gotten to ecommerce at all yet. Either way, aftermarket and spare parts tend to stay on the phone and in the inbox longer than the rest of the business. That's simply where most companies are today, and it's exactly where the opportunity sits: aftermarket already carries some of your best margins, and building (or extending) self-service to cover it is one of the more straightforward ways to grow revenue without adding headcount.

Key insights:

• Why aftermarket margins already outperform new equipment, and what that means for where to focus first
• What good self-service looks like for spare parts and aftermarket, whether you're starting from scratch or building on what you have
• How to grow this channel by capturing demand that's already there, not by adding more people
• A framework for building the case, and the roadmap, whichever stage you're starting from

None of these are a criticism of how things work today, they're simply where the opportunity is, wherever you're starting from.

1. "Aftermarket already earns your best margins." Aftermarket services can deliver EBIT margins around 25%, more than 2.5x higher than new equipment sales. It's often just not been the focus of the digital investment yet.

2. "Your customers would welcome the option to self-serve." The people ordering spare parts from you are the same people ordering from Amazon at 10pm. Many would appreciate being able to check stock, reorder, or track a delivery without waiting on a call back.

3. "Growth here can come without adding headcount." Building or extending self-service into aftermarket means your team spends less time on repeat questions and more time on the complex, relationship-building work that actually needs them.

This guide walks through the case for bringing self-service to aftermarket, in language a CFO, a VP of Sales, and a Head of Digital can each bring to their own stakeholders.

The margin is already there Aftermarket outperforms new equipment on margin, which makes it a strong place to start or expand your digital investment. Self-service is worth building around Whether it's your first webshop or your fifth iteration, spare parts, fitment, and reordering deserve the same self-service treatment as the rest of your catalog. Growth here supports your team, it doesn't replace them Self-service handles the repeat questions, freeing your team for the conversations that need a person.

Self-service is worth building around Whether it's your first webshop or your fifth iteration, spare parts, fitment, and reordering deserve the same self-service treatment as the rest of your catalog.

Growth here supports your team, it doesn't replace them Self-service handles the repeat questions, freeing your team for the conversations that need a person.

1. Why aftermarket generates 25–30% of manufacturer revenue but more than 50% of total profit, and what that suggests about where to invest first.
2. What manufacturers who've already brought self-service to aftermarket did differently, and what changed for their teams.
3. How to build a CFO-ready case grounded in capturing existing demand, not requesting a large new investment.
4. How to plan the rollout so it fits your stage, whether that's a first webshop or an upgrade to what you already run.