A new State of the Nation survey from JudgeService has outlined the threat to part-exchange deals that the online ‘disruptors’ are posing to the franchised dealer network.
Just last month, Hendy Group CEO, Paul Hendy, explained on a live Auto Retail Network webinar that the likes of Webuyanycar.com are poaching profitable used car stock that would normally be sourced from part exchange deals.
According to the report, which surveyed more than 6,500 car buyers, just 13% of car buyers would visit a retailer’s website for a part-exchange valuation, versus 46% who would visit webuyanycar.com and 26% heading to Auto Trader.
Wake-up call
This widening gap should be a wake-up call for the retail automotive sector. Part-exchanges staying in the deal when customers buy new cars, provide stock and higher profit margins, but this utopia is being slowly dismantled by the digital providers.
So, what are dealers able to do about it?
Clearly, the key moment in the car-buying journey is post order – when the customer has committed to a purchase and committed to a part-exchange vehicle being part of the deal, but has his or her ‘head turned’ while waiting for that new vehicle to be ready.
Too often this period of time between order and handover is seen as a waiting time or a gap in the journey, but those retailers taking a different approach and seeing it as an opportunity will find that they also have a greater chance to keeping all deals ‘intact’ up until delivery point.
If the customer has the same localised, personalised and engaging experience they have had up until order point, throughout the rest of the journey, the likelihood is that customer will feel excited and motivated to keep everything as it is. It stands to reason that as a customer you don’t go looking for other deals if you remain committed and focused on the one you have agreed.
AutoBuzz is the award-winning automated communication platform that delivers personalised messages to customers all through the order to handover wait. Without putting additional pressure on the sales team to constantly stay in touch with forward orders and keep the deal in place, retailers can integrate with AutoBuzz and let it take the wheel during the journey within the car-buying journey.
AutoBuzz automates communication to each and every customer, keeps them excited about the prospect of a new vehicle and drives up revenue by presenting profitable products and services at the right time while the customer waits.
Get in touch today to arrange a demo and find out how it would work for your automotive retail business.
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