Purchase parts for customer
Shop by Vehicle
- Parts Catalog
- VIN Verification & Fit
- Generic Search
- My Garage
Search
- Search by VIN/BOM/Major Component
- Search by Cross Reference
- Search by VMRS Category
Browse Categories
- Product categories
Project Overview
What is Excelerator and who uses it? Excelerator is Daimler Truck North America's aftermarket e-commerce platform, used by dealers and customers to search, find, and buy parts for any make, model, and application.
Business Challenge
Dealers reported difficulty selling Extended Coverage and Connectivity Services because customers had no online destination to explore these products or request quotes. The process relied entirely on phone conversations, creating friction early in the customer journey.
Customer feedback revealed a preference for self research before speaking with a dealer. Without an online experience, many customers turned to third-party providers, even though there was strong interest in DTNA's OEM-backed offerings.
Business Stakeholders saw an opportunity to close this gap by integrating these products into the existing Parts website, allowing customers to discover offerings online and connect with dealers when they were ready.
"How might we architecturally expand an existing aftermarket commerce platformto support three distinct business lines while maintaining a cohesive user experience?"
Understanding the Existing Website Architecture
How a dealer moves through the Parts website today
How a customer moves through the Parts website today
-
Starts on Excelerator Parts
-
Does one of two jobs
Run the dealership
Dashboard
- Today's Sales
- Current Week Sales
- Current Month Sales
- Customer shopping under their dealership sales activity
- Guest Shopper Sales Activity
- Overall Customer Sales Activity
- Lost Parts Sales Report
- Top Customers Table
- Top Parts Table
Customers
Manage customer accounts created by this dealership. Whenever a customer shops for parts, this dealer will get their margin.
Dealers
Manage dealership branches and its users (employees) under this dealership family.
Orders
Check orders by dealership branch or by customer.
Messages
Reads and replies back to the messages from other dealer users or customers.
Error Management
Looks to see if any orders have failed and reaches out to Excelerator support if necessary.
-
Starts on Excelerator Parts
-
Takes a path to purchase parts
Shop by Vehicle
- Parts Catalog
- VIN Verification & Fit
- Generic Search
- My Garage
Search
- Find part by VIN/BOM/Major Component
- Search by Cross Reference
- Search by VMRS Category
Product Category
- Browse categories
-
Adds items to cart and places an order
CartOrder -
Comes back later
Order History
Check the status of an order or look up past orders.
My Garage
Check for recalls, or whether it is time to replace filters, oils, or parts.
Inner Circle Rewards
See new offers and which offers are running.
Account
Account management.
Before rebuilding the architecture, I wanted to understand user expectations — any special requirements, and any problems they were already facing that this work could resolve.
Marcus Hale
Parts Manager
“Customers already come to Excelerator Parts expecting to find everything they need. If Coverages and Connectivity feel like separate products or live somewhere else, we end up spending time explaining where to go instead of helping them find what they need.”
Priya Nair
Dealer Admin
“Our teams already know where to manage parts-related settings. Bringing Coverages and Connectivity into the same experience means less training, fewer questions, and a much better chance of consistent adoption across dealerships.”
Elena Vasquez
Front Counter User
“When I'm helping a customer, I don't think in terms of Parts, Coverages, or Connectivity as separate systems. I just need to find the right product quickly. Having everything in one place makes those conversations much easier.”
Jordan Blake
Repair Technician
“I'm already in Excelerator Parts throughout the day. If Coverages and Connectivity are available in the same workflow, I can quickly bring them up during a job, show the options to the customer, and potentially make a sale without leaving the experience.”
David Chen
Service Manager
“We already have customers visiting Excelerator Parts. By integrating Coverages and Connectivity into the same experience, we can increase awareness and adoption without asking customers to learn a new destination.”
Anita Brooks
Fleet Parts Manager
“We're always looking for ways to reduce downtime and better manage our fleet. Seeing parts, coverages, and connectivity offerings together helps us evaluate all available options without jumping between different systems.”
Luis Ortega
Independent Repair Facility
“If there's a coverage plan or connectivity product that could help my customer, I want to discover it while I'm already shopping for parts. I shouldn't have to leave the site or call someone just to see what's available.”
Tom Brennan
Owner Operator
“I just want to see everything that's available for my truck in one place. If I'm already buying parts, it makes sense to show me related coverages and connectivity options without sending me somewhere else.”
Maya Patel
Customer Admin
“The buying experience should be consistent across all products. If I know how to search for and purchase parts today, I should be able to find and buy coverages and connectivity products the same way.”
Key Takeaways
-
One destination, multiple offerings
Users expect Parts, Coverages, and Connectivity to live within the same experience rather than as separate products or sites.
-
Leverage existing user behavior
Customers and dealership employees want to discover and access new offerings in the places they already visit and understand.
-
Minimize navigation and context switching
Users should not need to leave their current workflow, switch systems, or learn a new path to find or purchase related products.
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Maintain consistent search and shopping experiences
Finding, comparing, and purchasing Coverages and Connectivity should feel as familiar and intuitive as buying parts.
-
Enable faster customer conversations
Parts and service teams need to quickly surface relevant offerings while assisting customers, creating opportunities for cross-selling and upselling.
-
Reduce training and increase adoption
The more the new offerings align with existing patterns, terminology, and workflows, the less training is required and the higher the likelihood of adoption.
Now that we have a clear understanding of our users' expectations, let's look at how other e-commerce experiences integrate multiple product offerings. This helps us create a familiar and intuitive experience that users can navigate with confidence.
Rethinking the Architecture
How a dealer moves through Excelerator
How a customer moves through Excelerator
-
NewStarts on global homepage
-
Run the dealership
Purchasing for customers
Dashboard
- Today's Sales
- Parts
- NewCoverages
- NewConnectivity
- Current Week Sales
- Parts
- NewCoverages
- NewConnectivity
- Current Month Sales
- Parts
- NewCoverages
- NewConnectivity
- Customer shopping under their dealership sales activity
- Guest Shopper Sales Activity
- Overall Customer Sales Activity
- Lost Parts Sales Report
- Top Customers Table
- Top Parts Table
Customers
- Customer Accounts
- Dealership Margin
Dealers
- Dealership Branches
- Dealership Users
NewOrders
- Parts Orders
- NewCoverages Orders
- NewConnectivity Orders
Messages
- Dealer and Customer Messages
NewError Management
- Orders Failed for Parts
- NewOrders Failed for Coverages
- NewOrders Failed for Connectivity
Parts
-
Homepage
-
Shop by Vehicle
- Parts Catalog
- VIN Verification & Fit
- Generic Search
- My Garage
Search
- Find part by VIN/BOM/Major Component
- Search by Cross Reference
- Search by VMRS Category
Browse Categories
- Browse categories
-
Add to cart
Connectivity
-
NewHomepage
-
NewEnter VIN
-
NewProduct listing page
-
NewAdd to cart
Coverages
-
NewHomepage
-
NewEnter VIN
-
NewProduct listing page
-
NewQuote sent to customer
-
Billed the customer
-
Cart page
-
Billed the customer
- Today's Sales
-
NewStarts on global homepage
-
Parts
-
Homepage
-
Shop by Vehicle
- Parts Catalog
- VIN Verification & Fit
- Generic Search
- My Garage
Search
- Find part by VIN/BOM/Major Component
- Search by Cross Reference
- Search by VMRS Category
Browse Categories
- Browse categories
-
Add to cart
Connectivity
-
NewHomepage
-
NewEnter VIN
-
NewProduct listing page
-
NewAdd to cart
Coverages
-
NewHomepage
-
NewEnter VIN
-
NewProduct listing page
-
NewQuote process
-
Purchase
-
Cart page
-
Purchase
-
-
Comes back later
Order History
Check the status of an order or look up past orders.
My Garage
Check for recalls, or whether it is time to replace filters, oils, or parts.
Inner Circle Rewards
See new offers and which offers are running.
Account
Account management.
Bringing It Together
-
Global homepage -
Parts
-
Homepage -
Search
Connectivity
-
Homepage -
Product listing
Coverages
-
Homepage -
Product listing
Cart 
Quote cart 
Order confirmation -
Pilot Feedback & Validation
As part of our validation effort, we brought together customers and dealers to experience the redesigned site firsthand. Using a staging environment, participants completed common workflows using provided test credentials and VINs.
Feedback
-
Clear navigation and journey awareness
- Users always knew which product they were viewing.
- The next steps in the journey were clear and easy to follow.
- Users felt confident navigating without additional guidance.
-
Intuitive and user-friendly experience
- Users found the interface simple and easy to use.
- Calls to action were clear and easy to locate.
- Page layouts and content organization made information easy to find.
- Users always knew what action to take next.
-
Opportunities for bundled product sales
- Dealers showed interest in offering discounts for bundled products.
- Bundling was seen as a way to increase awareness of Coverages and Connectivity.
- Users felt the integrated experience created natural cross-sell and upsell opportunities.
- Dealers saw potential to provide more value through package-based offers.
Key Takeaways
The pilot reinforced that integrating Parts, Coverages, and Connectivity into a single experience aligns with user expectations. Because the experience followed familiar e-commerce patterns, users were able to navigate confidently and complete their tasks with ease.