Five per cent of CarShop buyers never step inside a showroom

11:00 am, July 1, 2016

FIVE per cent of CarShop buyers take delivery of their new vehicle without ever having visited one of the company’s showrooms, CEO Jonathan Dunkley revealed on Trade Plates TV this week.

Dunkley explained that the business is now seeing a further 23 per cent of sales made as ‘reserve and collect’ purchases – potentially meaning just one visit to a showroom is necessary.

He explained that the company operates in this way because there is a ‘recognition that some of our customers want to shop from the comfort of their sofa’.

Talking to Trade Plates TV host Rebecca Chaplin, he said: ‘Most customers love to come into store, interact with us, touch and feel the product and take a test drive, but there are a number of customers who hate the idea of going into a car dealership so it was really about our mantra of allowing the customer to shop in the way that they want to.

‘By being flexible it means that we maximise every opportunity on our website.’

Dunkley believes increased transparency in the market is one of the challenges he sees the industry facing, saying: ‘Managing transparency will be key and how we use that to our advantage will be important.

‘The reality is that customers can go anywhere and buy a car. Pricing is very similar across the board and you don’t tend to get the really expensive dealers any more because that model doesn’t work. Where we can really separate ourselves is by giving that great customer experience.’

Last year CarShop, which has outlets in Cardiff, Doncaster, Northampton, Norwich and Swindon, achieved its highest-ever profit figure of £5m and Dunkley predicted that this year will see an even more impressive performance.

Watch the video in full to hear exactly what he had to say.