Digital Retailing Goes Big
The world in general, especially auto dealerships, is going to look a lot different in 2021 than it did just a few years ago. Online shopping and digital retailing has been growing at approximately 20% per year, according to Adobe Analytics and the National Retail Federation.
Make sure your dealership can be a part of this by scheduling a demonstration of our mobile app!
Trends in Car Shopping
Driven in part by 2020’s lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, people are doing more and more shopping from their smartphones in the comfort of their own couches. We’ve all gotten used to browsing online, paying electronically, and having the goods delivered to our doorsteps.
Well, the big brown trucks aren’t likely to become car carriers any time soon, but there’s every reason to believe that digital retailing is the way for dealerships to grow and thrive. Consulting firm McKinsey & Company reports that fewer than one-third of younger drivers plan to buy their next cars in person at a dealership lot, and many would prefer to have absolutely no contact with any sales people at all (it’s not you, though, it’s them, we promise!). Cars.com surveys show that these buyers would prefer to handle all negotiations online, and this includes obtaining financing as long as they can also get full disclosures and accurate quotes.
The digital retailing train has pulled out of the station and you can make sure that your dealership is on it by scheduling a demonstration of our mobile app today.
The Industry Is Ready
The automotive industry is prepared to embrace the trend toward digital retailing. There are now platforms that leverage big data, analytics, and technology to provide both dealers and consumers with a seamless online car shopping experience from “window shopping” through contracts, financing, taxes and tags, and everything else that goes into getting ready to drive away.
Some of the automotive industry sectors that these platforms cover include:
Manufacturing: Information is collected on every make, model, and trim line offered by every manufacturer. Information is also collected on every possible rebate or incentive, including VIN-specific, option package-specific, region-specific, and dealer-specific offers, as well as whether these incentives can be combined or stacked.
Lending: Complete information is available for every published program offered by every lender in the country, for borrowers ranging from subprime through excellent credit. This includes all factors that could influence a purchasing or lending transaction, including parameters, policies, and other program-specific criteria.
Dealership: This includes information on every dealership’s required terms and conditions, including individual price rules, fees, lender relationships, reserve policies, and anything else that might be relevant. This is extremely useful when considering how your dealership should position and present itself to consumers.
Consumer: Information is available on all consumer credit bands and how they are classified, collected, and considered by every lender or manufacturer financing program.
Municipal and Government: This includes everything that any dealership needs to know about state, county, and local legalities such as laws, rules and regulations, tax percentages, calculations, registration fees, and other Department of Motor Vehicles Information.
Dealerships that are considering moving into or strengthening their digital retailing strategies – and that should be every dealership! – would do well to make sure that they can access all this information to make their online showrooms more attractive and accessible to potential buyers. Schedule a demonstration of our mobile app today so that you can see how easy and convenient it can be.
Is Your Dealership Ready?
The country is opening back up again, which means that people will be working and driving and buying and spending. But 2021 is going to look very different from 2019, and one of the changes that looks as if it’s here to stay is “from home.” Going forward, a lot of us are going to be working from home, worshiping from home, schooling from home, and shopping from home – even for cars.
It’s true that it’s a sellers’ market now, but this doesn’t mean that all sellers and all markets are going to come out on top. You are no longer competing with just the dealership down the street; the market is wide open and geography is not the limiting factor that it once was.
Dealerships need to get with the times if they don’t want to be left behind. This includes creating attractive virtual showrooms, figuring out how to arrange test drives and deliveries, and most importantly, presenting potential buyers with all the information they could want or need right on their smartphones.
Today and tomorrow’s buyers demand complete access and transparency. They want to know how to get the best car, with the best options, at the best price, on the best terms, with the best financing. Learn how to make this kind of digital retailing happen for them by scheduling a demonstration of our mobile app today.