A third of car buyers are now comfortable with buying their next vehicle entirely online as the pandemic dramatically shifts consumer behaviour.
With most consumers already buying most things online, the shift to online car buying is a natural step – but it’s one that has taken a while to take hold.
However, as the coronavirus crisis shifted attitudes and dealers rapidly introduced new online sales solutions, consumers are now responding with a recent poll finding 35.6 per cent of nearly 9,000 surveyed happy to buy entirely online.
The What Car? poll also found a fifth were more comfortable negotiating online rather than face to face and 15 per cent said it would save them time.
For the two thirds of buyers who weren’t comfortable buying online, car buyers said no-quibble money-back guarantees would help allay their fears.
Some 35 per cent of buyers surveyed said they would like to take a test drive with the car delivered to their home.
And nearly 40 per cent said they would skip visiting a dealer completely if they could have a one-to-one walkaround of a car with a product expert online.
Many dealers are already offering most of these services and the research plays into the hands of online specialists including used car dealers Cazoo and soon-to-launch Carzam.
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