RNR Tire Express Optimizes Reporting & Operations Across 13 Locations

Overview

With over 200 shops in nearly 30 states, RNR Tire Express is one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing automotive service franchises. Much of RNR’s growth is driven by existing franchisees–more than 80% run multiple locations and continue expanding into new areas. One of the standouts is RNR Tire Express Midwest, which opened their first store in 2006 and now counts 13 locations across four states, with more planned in the coming years.

Part of what makes RNR so unique is its franchisees’ commitment to underserved communities. By offering flexible, budget-friendly payment plans, they allow customers to get the tires and wheels they need and pay on a schedule that works for them. While this approach has earned the company a loyal following and sterling reputation, it does create a lot of moving parts, along with communication challenges between the counter, the shop, and the client that could be improved.

For a growing operation, keeping track of customer information, including when tires were installed or when they’re due for rotation, had become a sticking point as well; the system they had in place just wasn’t cutting it. Regional Director Bre Braddock and her team needed a more reliable and accessible way of cataloging this data. Plus, it had to be intuitive and user-friendly enough to easily share across all locations.

Braddock methodically narrowed her search for new software down to a few platforms, “but Shopmonkey was definitely moving way faster in the direction of what we needed to document in the tire industry.” The rollout went smoother and faster than expected, and before long all locations were on board. “It’s just second nature to us now,” Braddock said. “It’s like it’s always been there.”

The Challenge

Inefficient Documentation | Inconsistent DOT Reporting Methods | Multi-Location Onboarding

For years, Braddock’s team had used paper tickets to track vehicles in their shops. Even though they eventually upgraded to shareable digital documents, the system they were using still fell short. They needed a better way to keep vehicle information organized and easily accessible.

It became a customer service issue, too, especially during disputes or complaints. “The longer it took me to go find that record, the more it would give customers the impression that we were hiding something,” Braddock recalled, “when in reality we’re just having to dig through papers or my old cloud system that had minimal search features. It was obviously a pain to have to go back and try to find those records, and I knew something needed to change.”

"It was obviously a pain to have to go back and try to find those records, and I knew something needed to change.”

Overseeing a multi-location franchise comes with built-in complications, and when tires are your bread and butter, even the smallest details can make a big difference. Case in point: Dealers are required by law to register the tires they sell with the Department of Transportation (DOT), and logging DOT Tire Identification Numbers (TIN) manually isn’t always error-proof. It’s not uncommon to type in the wrong letter or misread a handwritten number, and even minor mistakes can lead to wasted time tracking down and fixing the issue.

With 10 stores under her watch at the time, Braddock was also wary of introducing a new platform too quickly. Staff at each location would need enough time to properly learn the system. And it couldn’t disrupt or interfere with day-to-day operations. Plus, rushing the process could make employees feel overwhelmed, and they might not fully embrace the platform or understand its benefits. “The one thing I wanted to make sure we didn't do,” she said, “was move too fast.”

The Solution

Deliberate, Phased Rollout | Enhanced Documentation | 100% Accurate DOT Reporting

Once Braddock had decided on the new system, she knew a deliberate, phased-in approach to onboarding would work best. Rather than diving in with all 10 locations, she worked with Shopmonkey to beta-test it across three stores to see how it performed. “I was so thankful that Shopmonkey was so open to the idea of me not going all on board at once,” she said. “And that was one of the smartest things we did, because then I could focus on just those three locations for that period of time.”

This allowed them to fine-tune the system to make it as efficient and turnkey as possible. And when the first three shops became comfortable with it, Braddock pulled the trainers out of those stores to help train the rest of the teams and locations.

“It’s so intuitive. It didn’t matter if you were a shop tech or a front counter service writer—everybody caught on very quickly."

The basics, like creating tickets, communicating across departments, and documenting work, were mastered in no time. “It’s so intuitive,” she said. “It didn’t matter if you were a shop tech or a front counter service writer–everybody caught on very quickly. It was really within a week; after that, it was mostly just questions about additional features and digging deeper.”

In fact, Shopmonkey’s system delivered exactly what Braddock and her team needed. By incorporating customer details like vehicle mileage, VIN numbers, and license plates, along with tire inventory, the software streamlined access to important data. “We were able to quickly get those answers and communicate digitally with our clients,” Braddock explained. “I didn’t have to worry about scanning and emailing—it could all be sent directly through the platform.”

Soon, Shopmonkey would become the foundation of their workflow. Now, from the moment a customer arrives at the counter, a ticket is created. From there, it’s sent to a shop technician, who can begin working on the vehicle as soon as that ticket appears on their phone or tablet. “I don't know if we would know what to do without it, technically, because it’s the centerpiece of everything that happens inside our store,” Braddock said. “And that's very crucial information for us to be able to document.”

 “I don't know if we would know what to do without Shopmonkey, technically, because it’s the centerpiece of everything that happens inside our store."

Shopmonkey also worked with Braddock to create a custom feature that allows tire information to be directly input for DOT reporting. Techs just snap a photo of the TIN information on each tire’s sidewalls, and the software automatically converts the image into text with 100% accuracy and integrates it directly into the system. The shop then sends that data to the national registry so clients can be notified of recalls or other issues. “[Shopmonkey] brought it to life,” Braddock said of the partnership. “They were amazing at getting that rolling—and doing it a lot quicker than I expected.”

More accurate tire installations and capturing DOT information made a big difference in the team’s efficiency. As a result, tire sales hit an all-time high of 78% in 2024—a 10% increase over a typical year. “So that drastically went up,” Braddock said. “We’d never seen that percentage of tires that we were selling, and all that thanks goes to Shopmonkey.” And with the increase in tire sales came a natural uptick in TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) sales, she noted. 

Big-picture, shifting to Shopmonkey has effectively streamlined the group’s multi-shop management efforts throughout their 13 stores. With shared administrative access, key team members, like the safety manager, can oversee all locations and handle any safety concerns from a single point of contact. The improved reporting tools make it easier than ever to review open tickets at the end of the day and figure out why they weren’t closed. Plus, better search tools allow Braddock to quickly pull up a client’s service history across locations and see where they were last serviced, “so I'm not having to dig through each account to find that person.”

 “We’d never seen that percentage of tires that we were selling, and all that thanks goes to Shopmonkey.”

Looking ahead, Braddock said she and her team are excited about the possibilities and finding new ways to take advantage of the platform. “We’re always learning,” she added, “and asking ourselves, ‘What’s a new feature, or something we can utilize in Shopmonkey that benefits us?’ So we keep evolving in it, and we’re never going to stop growing.”