1:03 pm, May 30, 2023
Customers continue to prefer having digital and physical elements to the car buying process, Auto Trader has said.
Speaking to Car Dealer Live the firm’s chief operating officer, Catherine Faiers, explained how omni-channel – the mixture of digital and physical retailing – is still believed to be the future of the motor trade, as consumer behaviours continues to adapt.
‘There have been loads of headlines written over the last few years saying that car-buying is going to move online – I think there are two important things to consider,’ she said.
‘Firstly, there’s often a difference – and sometimes it can be quite a big difference – between what consumers say they’re going to do, and then what they actually do.
‘We’re seeing consumers feeling like they should be influenced by headlines (and sentiment around electric vehicles, actually) but then they just carry on doing what they would have always done anyway.
‘And secondly, when we ask consumers most say that they want to do more online and that they’re comfortable doing more of the jobs in the buying journey online. But not as many say that they want to do all of the buying journey online.
‘And I think that is a really important difference between an online transaction and an omni-channel experience that might involve a digital journey, but a physical experience or actually transaction happening on the forecourt.’
We think that’s the future for the industry
Auto Trader has tracked the number of used cars bought purely end-to-end online in recent years. It has seen that figure track as high as four per cent (of all used car sales) in the past couple of years, but that figure has now dropped year-on-year.
Faiers continued: ‘At the same time, we’re seeing record engagement on Auto Trader with consumers doing more of those buying jobs online, but then the majority looking for us to hand over to the retailer to complete the jobs that they’re less comfortable doing online on the forecourt with the retailer.
‘When we talk about digital retailing, we very much mean omni-channel – bringing the best of the digital experience and connecting that with the best of the forecourt experience provided by retailers; digital journeys but very much physical retailing.
‘We think that’s the future for the industry.’
In the interview – which you can watch at the top of this story – Faiers also explained how salespeople need to adapt the service they provide to match customers’ desires for a mixture of physical and digital experiences.
‘There’s no doubt that the role of the salesperson and how they’re helping that buyer is definitely changing – and it will continue to change,’ she said.
‘Of course, it’s still about closing the sale to some extent, but it’s much more about delivering a personalised service to that consumer.
‘They might have done quite a lot of work and research online and be quite a long way down the buying journey, but the experience then provided on the forecourt becomes even more important. It’s a way for retailers to differentiate the service in the experience they’re providing, versus what you can get online or what you can get from some other retail channels.’
This change in consumer behaviour is one of the three forces of change in the motor industry Auto Trader has identified.
The online marketplace revealed the exclusive white paper research at this year’s Car Dealer Live event held at the British Motor Museum in March.
Along with changing consumer behaviour, Auto Trader notes supply and electric vehicles as the major forces of change facing car dealers. You can read more about these here.
Elsewhere in the interview, Faiers spoke about current used car supply and demand, and electric vehicles. You can watch the full video at the top of this story.
Auto Trader explores this topic in more detail in a newly launched online report, Digital Journeys, Physical Retailing, which is based on research of 227 retailers, representing 1,800 franchise and independent sites. The report looks at how the most successful retailers are adapting to changing consumer behaviours, and unlocking the full potential of omn-ichannel retailing. It can be viewed here
Car Dealer Live returns to the British Motor Show in 2024. The event – sponsored by our headline partner Auto Trader – will be headlined by car dealer giants Peter Vardy and Peter Waddell. Find out more about 2024’s event here
