Fueled by the global pandemic, digital retailing has become a busy space within the automotive industry over the past 12 months. Numerous providers promise to future-proof car dealerships’ business models by simply selling them a digital retailing widget. Dealerships and manufacturers alike are rushing to ‘check the box’ on digital retailing – but is this really enough?
Carvana (NYSE: CVNA) and Vroom (Nasdaq: VRM) are leading the way in online transactability for used cars. Tesla (NYSE: TSLA) has proven that even high-line luxury vehicles can be sold exclusively online. Electric vehicle upstarts, like Fisker (NYSE: FSR), elected to go the online route.
Today, it is a reality that car buyers want to conduct more of their purchases online including structuring their monthly payment, apply incentives, value their trade, select F&I products, obtain instant credit approval, schedule (home) delivery, and sign documents. And this is where simple widgets fall short. Rather than allowing customers to purchase, finance and insure their vehicles online, digital retailing widgets insinuate transactability while merely extracting the customer’s lead information. Relying on lead gen only will not equip a dealership for a successful future.
Modern retailing – rather than digital retailing – combines the best of both worlds with new systems and processes that create a consistent customer experience regardless of the channel:
- Fully transactable online stores tailored to each dealership’s needs
- A physical showroom where customers can experience the vehicle before they commit
Digital Motors empowers automotive dealerships and their customers with a fully-configurable online sales platform. Tier 3 online stores powered by Digital Motors see strong user engagement, increased conversion, and profitable deals that can get delivered in 45 min. or less.
By Andy Hinrichs, CEO Digital Motors
March 2021
