8:57 am, March 25, 2023
Online disruptors in the car sales space such as Cazoo and Cinch have been the talk of the industry over the past few years and more recently in the past few months.
This is especially true after Cazoo posted huge losses, announced it was pulling back from the market and downsized its operations.
Back in 2012, Tesco tried to enter the online car market under the name Tesco Cars but closed the business after only a year of trading, citing stock availability issues and sales of only 150 cars a month!
It does seem odd that such platforms appear to be destined for failure when, as consumers, we have been buying more products online as the years have passed.
The Covid-19 pandemic only further accelerated this change in consumer behaviour.
So why has this simply not caught on as much with the sale of new and used cars?
Cars are typically the most expensive purchases that most people make after buying their home.
It is natural to want to physically inspect, interact with and test-drive a car before making such a significant purchase, especially with used cars.
These are all aspects of the buying process that are simply not possible to replicate online.
Nothing, it seems, can emulate ‘touch and feel’.
A little over six months ago, I bought a new motorbike. I started by looking online and soon found a model that I wanted on a dealer’s website. I visited in person as I wanted to touch and feel what I wanted to buy.
Their customer service and level of knowledge they had on site was fantastic, but I still needed more time to consider my options.
A few nights later, at around 10pm, I simply opened the dealer’s website on my tablet and bought my new motorbike via its digital platform.
A few days later, my new motorbike was on my drive and I was being talked through all its features by the excellent delivery person who worked for the dealership.
In my opinion, this was a fantastic mix of traditional bricks-and-mortar sales and a robust online digital service with finance options that was simple and easy to use.
I think the appetite for online-only sales of cars has been overestimated and ‘touch and feel’ has been underestimated by the likes of some of these ‘online disruptors’.
As younger generations who have grown up in a digital world enter the car-buying market, the trend of buying cars online will likely gradually increase.
However, it’s possible that companies such as Cazoo and others may have jumped the gun in terms of timing, and a need and want to be the first to mass market with an offering the world isn’t ready for may have been a contributing factor in their downfall.
In my opinion, a balanced approach of digital and bricks-and-mortar sales will ultimately prove to be more successful now and in the future.
This column appears in the latest edition of Car Dealer – issue 181 – along with news, reviews and features. Click here to read and download it for free!
