The COVID-19 pandemic has in many ways changed traditional means of conducting business. With human contact now limited, e-commerce has extended into several new portals for sustained commercial interactions. Car shopping is no exception, analytics show that for automobile dealerships to keep pace with shopper expectations they must enhance online shopping experiences for their audience.
Coronavirus and Car Shopping Trends
Steps taken to keep consumers engaged in their automobile purchase interests such as virtual test drives, video walkarounds and customized options are likely to continue in the future. Clients enjoy these features and will prefer them even when it is safe to leave home. “Dealers need to be utilizing digital retail solutions to save time and improve the customer experience” said Lissette Gole, Head of Automotive Retail, Google. In light of this, there are 4 trends predominant in car shopping during the pandemic.
- Shop Online
Auto dealerships are dealing with an audience ready to make a purchase online if the option to do so is available. 55% of automobile shoppers see virtual experiences as a positive and 57% would be happy to make a purchase if the vehicle can be home delivered.
- Virtual Experiences
Since dealership lots have now been closed down, consumers are actively searching online for alternative ways to gain a showroom experience. There has been a 40% rise in “test drive” and “walkaround” video searches on YouTube as compared to the previous year. Creating more immersive, virtual experiences in this regard can be one way to close sales.
- Deal Expectations
For eleven consecutive weeks, Google Trends have shown a 31% increase in search for “best car deals.” Consumers are eager to make a purchase and understand that given the current circumstances buying their own car at a lowered price is their best bet for a clean means of transport.
- Comfort in Ownership
A number of U.S residents are revaluating what it means to own a car. 20% of non-car owning Americans aged 25-54 are considering purchasing a vehicle. This translates to 3 million people who could potentially be clients at your auto dealership.
Optimize Touchpoints for Online Dealership Shoppers
There are a number of touchpoints that auto dealers can consider in optimizing customer experience overall. The likelihood of receiving a positive response with an audience that is already reaching out will be much higher for dealerships. Here’s how you can create a streamlined start to finish purchasing process for your eager clients.
- Strike a Deal
It takes an average of three hours in a dealership to secure a car, filling out paperwork and contracts for either purchase or lease, potential negotiations or finding the best price. Shifting this process online can simplify and speed up the process much further. The client can now complete this process from the comfort of their own house.
- Make a Home Run
Consumers want a way to bring the experience home so that they can make better informed decisions on the right type of vehicle for them. 45% of potential automobile owners select at-home test drives instead of showroom visits. Giving them this experience to the best of your abilities is an excellent option to provide consumers with the ability to view the car and all its components.
- Pick My Car
People are choosing their corresponding inventory and offers in accordance with their needs. Google noted a 28% increase in “Am I getting a deal?” searches between April to May 2020. A growing number of consumers are conducting in-depth searches for the car of their liking amongst a number of inventories looking for a budget-friendly vehicles. The goal with this target audience is to entice them with special offers and incentives
Making this pivotal change to have a sizeable online presence is crucial to keep customers engaged. There are several technological drivers necessary in order to facilitate a flexible maneuver such as this, and SalesCatcher’s Intelligent Offering (iO) can help. Our AI orchestration platform – iOFlow, working in tandem with our intelligent RPA tool – iOBot can create a much more customized experience for each of your consumers. If you’d like to find out more our AI team at SalesCatcher would be happy to help.
