With online shopping fast becoming the preferred method of buying for consumers, businesses in the retail industry are being forced to adapt, or risk being run out of business by companies willing to make the move to the online platform.

While the rise of shopping with the click of a button has created many positive aspects – consumers can now do their shopping without having to leave their beds – it has created a numerous challenges, particularly for the automotive industry.

Where buying a car use to be a uniquely physical experience – from looking at a car for potential issues, to test driving it – dealers are now being required to integrate on-line showrooms to bring in business.

Philip Nothard, customer insight and strategy director at Cox Automotive UK, has predicted that the rise in online car sales would continue and that manufacturers had to find a balance between online sales and traditional in-store sales to survive.

“I think it’s a case of getting that blend between digital and physical cohesive so it’s allowing buyers, vendors to operate in the digital space using technology as well as being able to use it in a physical space that it works cohesively together and they are not two separate streams,” said Nothard.

“We as a business forecast that there will be an increase in volume of vehicles being sold online as opposed to physical. The online experience will dominate more in the future and therefore the technology has to be better to present products.”

Nothard followed up by saying dealers had to listen to the wants and needs of consumers and adapt, at a time where customers have more options than ever before.

“We understand and we know that vendors and the sellers of a vehicle are moving further upstream so in terms of the people wanting to go direct to the end user there’s a lot of that taking place, both the buyers and the sellers want faster decisions and a more efficient process.”

Some manufacturers have already begun implementing online platforms to increase sales and to present a unique, simple, customer centred shopping experience.

Mercedes-Benz announced last year that their first electric vehicle, the EQC, would be sold online. Mercedes stores and dealerships will still be used to market and service the vehicles, with a select range of demo vehicles on-site for potential customers to test-drive but buying would take place online.

Tesla are another brand well known for their online sales platform. Rather than operating through dealerships, Tesla sell their vehicles exclusively online, selling direct to customers.

Both brands are well known as being at the centre of innovation in the automotive industry and are proving the benefits of establishing an online presence.

Nothard urged dealers to accept that online sales were slowly becoming the norm, saying it is important that the industry looks to the future of selling to understand what actions need to be taken today.

“The way you image products, the information you hold in the digital space needs to be better, so we are working very much for that at the minute. We are supporting that, and we understand that technology in the remarketing world will become ever more agnostic and data will become ever more transparent.

“We can’t as a business and as an industry say we are there now, because digital technology is moving quicker than everything else, so we are constantly looking at where it is heading rather than where it is today. We need to look at the future at all times.

Source: CarNews2day | Online car sales to rise, predicts industry expert

24 Jan 2020