Now that the lockdown has an end-date, car dealers across the UK will be making their preparations for 12th April when the public are finally allowed to visit car showrooms. What the savvy dealers may also be contemplating at this time is how much the experience of the past 12 months has changed their business, and the whole marketplace in terms of customer expectations.

Thanks to the lockdown, as well as the emergence of some of the new large digital players, there are many car buyers out there that used Click and Collect/Deliver services during lockdown and will be expecting more of this in the future. The new digital players are banking on this and have the marketing resources to bring about the continued change in attitude among the public regarding the way we buy used vehicles. Whether we like it or not, Click and Collect/Deliver services are here to stay, and dealers need to continue to offer these services.

In the past year the businesses that have prospered during the lockdowns are those that got their digital offering properly functioning. Being able to offer these services means:
• Having proper a proper e-commerce-enabled website
• Preparation facilities that can turn around orders promptly
• Properly understanding the Distance Selling Regulations and using them to their advantage
• Understanding the expectations of digital customers

The already digitally-enabled car dealers know there is a huge benefit from having an e-commerce enabled site that will endure even after lockdown: taking customers out of the marketplace 24-seven.

In this era of more and more customers supposedly being “cash rich time poor” valuable prospects are browsing dealer websites at the times they are not open for business. In fact, we all know that the vast majority of customers now planning to buy a car start their research online and do not start at a car lot. If you allow a customer to place a deposit on a vehicle via your website at 11 o’clock at night you will take the customer out of the market. Their vehicle search will be over. They won’t be looking at other dealer websites the next morning: but instead waiting for your call and ready to be talked through the next steps of the transaction.

Sure… There will be some customers who pull out. They might not get credit, or you might not be able to agree a deal on the trade-in, but the vast majority of enquiries starting this way proceed to handover.

Can you afford to miss out on this source of valuable qualified leads? We don’t think so… Why not talk to us to see a no obligation demo of our e-commerce-enabled automotive websites?

For further details, please see: Automotive Ecommerce

Feel free to contact us for no obligation discussion and online demo. We look forward to hearing from you

The Prime Minister‘s announcement today that the UK will endure another month of lockdown poses new challenges for car dealers as they will have to adapt to new constraints on the way they do business.

The announced lockdown, which is intended to last until the start of December, will require car dealers to close as they are considered ‘non-essential retailers’. December and January are however the expected peak months for corona virus transmission, so the possibility of the initial period of the lockdown being extended is something of a concern.

If they have not done so already, motor dealers need to be looking at their sales processes to incorporate collect and collect, and click and deliver propositions. An e-commerce enabled website will be essential in meeting the challenge to maximise revenue over this period.

Fortunately, AutoHQ’s automotive e-commerce websites allow dealers to easily take deposits online and allow paperwork to be signed electronically on the customers own device. We have developer time available to onboard a limited number of new clients during November, so if you are interested switching to an ecommerce-enabled website please make contact with us as early as possible.

For further details, please see: Automotive Ecommerce

Feel free to contact us for no obligation discussion and online demo. We look forward to hearing from you