With digital touching virtually every aspect of both our working lives and downtime, having an informative and user-friendly online presence is an absolute pre-requisite for all retailers – especially car dealers.
So rather than just simply being there, how can you maximise the benefits of doing things digitally?
Car buyers no longer wade through reviews in magazines and traipse around dealer forecourts for their next purchase. They don’t have to.
Research suggests the average car buyer visits just two showrooms before making a purchase. That’s because, on average, buyers spend around 14 hours online beforehand, researching their next purchase. By the time they visit a dealer they know which model they’re interested in, how they’ll fund it and how much their car is worth as a part-exchange.
Think of it in terms of the tyre kicking now being one of the final parts of the process, rather than the starting point.
While it’s still important to have your cars neatly displayed on your physical forecourt, it’s even more important to have all your retail-ready stock displayed on your digital forecourt.
Consumers can now access all the information they need whenever they need it through smartphones and tablets and this has changed the way dealers interact with them. In the fiercely competitive car retailing sector, digital showrooms are open 24/7, so displaying up-to-date information on all your stock is vital.
This digital empowerment has significantly changed the customer journey, from initial research right the way through to final purchase, with dealers reaping the benefits of increasingly sophisticated technology to showcase themselves.
So, is your digital presence up to scratch?
All the obvious things and much, much more! Your website has got to be intuitive. Don’t invest in a funky design that gets in the way of visitors being able to conduct basic searches. Online buyers are not known for their patience, and if they can’t instantly find what they’re looking for they’ll find it elsewhere.
Ultimately, it’s rich content that will engage buyers – and some (or all) of these will help.
Being a good digital dealer isn’t just about your website. You also need to be engaging with the market through social media channels.
Don’t just think of Twitter, Instagram and Facebook as free marketing channels, they are also powerful platforms for you to interact with in-market car buyers, often on a one-to-one basis.
And don’t get hung up on the number of followers you have. Measure your success in terms of the level of engagement your posts achieve, the audience will grow as a result.
Social media posts need to be timely, relevant and interesting. If in doubt look at what your competitors are doing and ask yourself if you can do better.
Central to your digital presence is having access to the best possible stock for your customers.
That’s where ADESA UPSTREAM can help by providing you with access to desirable vehicles at the beginning of their journey into the wholesale market, avoiding the hassle and expense of chasing them through the auction halls.
See how we’re revolutionising vehicle remarketing for dealers by registering with ADESA UPSTREAM today.
More time selling. Less time sourcing. And that’s got to be good for your bottom line.
Visit adesa.co.uk/upstream