Why a branded mobile dealer app is a necessity in 2024
The move to a more digital automotive shopping experience has been long coming, but, admittedly, slow moving. However, 2020 has forced the industry to finally accelerate in this area all the way down to the dealership level. Over the past two years consumers have been meticulously trained to have complete end-to-end purchase experiences digitally. With this shift, it’s more imperative your dealership is remaining ahead of the curve with a branded mobile app.
As stated in a ‘CBT News’ article, “A dealership-branded mobile app serves as an excellent retention tool and has been adopted by many stores, large and small.” A link to the full article is here. Let’s note some more specific reasons why your dealership needs a mobile app.
A dealership-branded mobile app serves as an excellent retention tool and has been adopted by many stores, large and small – CBT News
Engagement
Consumers are more and more dependent on apps today than ever. From banking, retail, food delivery, etc. Consumers simply do business on their mobile devices. A branded mobile app carves out a critical piece of digital real estate on their most used device. Push Notifications are the centerpiece of keeping customers engaged and retained. Service reminders and sales specials can be placed right on their lock screens. Take personal truly to the next level with automated geo-fencing messages that generate when customers arrive to the dealership or any related areas.
Customer Experience
Bring the dealership experience right to the customer in so many ways. Allow quick and effortless inventory shopping with full images and vehicle details. Allow consumers to schedule test drives, service appointments, get prequalified, or apply for finance all directly from the mobile app. Have virtual one on one meetings with your consumers with live video calls, perfect for a virtual tour around the showroom floor or for service technicians to give consumers a live rundown of issues with vehicles that were found during the repair process. The digital retailing experience starts with the mobile app.
Customer Targeting
With a mobile app you are able to get valuable insights from your customers’ browsing habits and act on them with analytics data from the mobile app. See what your customers like and ways you can appeal to them better for a better experience for them. Create segments of your customer base to send targeted messages to particular groups or vehicle owners.
Retention
As stated in the beginning of the post, customer retention is a strong point of any good mobile application. Keep your loyal customers returning with a fully customizable loyalty rewards program. Fully integrated service scheduling with Xtime allows customers to make an appointment in a matter of seconds. Retention is largely related with engagement. An engaged customer is a retained customer. Leveraging all of the tools of the mobile application will keep your dealership top of mind and make sure they stay engaged and committed to your dealership.
Customization
Being able to customize the app may not at first thought have any impact on your customer’s app experience, but customization is another critical part of keeping the customer engaged. M-Link allows dealers to make instant changes to their Home Screen and menu layout on the fly to keep up with seasonal changes, ongoing trends, and whatever customers are demanding at a given time. Having a customizable loyalty rewards program keeps things exciting for new and creative ways to earn points in sales or services. This allows for more unique marketing efforts as well. You can even create customized pages in the app for more individualized needs. Have a body shop? Create a functional accident reporting screen for customers to upload photos and/or a video of their damage, all on the fly.
The global pandemic has changed the world, and many of those changes are here to stay. We’re now doing much of our business from home, and that includes working, schooling, and shopping. Smartphones have become the new shopping mall, and that’s the main reason why every retailer, even car dealers, need a mobile app of their own.