December 2020 Online sales channels - A piece of the omni-channel jigsaw Webinar
Dedicated online channels operated by OEMs, dealers or third-parties are becoming more and more established as elements of an omni-channel system, providing customers with the flexibility and convenience that they look for to buy new and used cars, to book a service appointment or to order parts at any time.
Whilst the online option needs to be made available to customers to transact online, the majority are not yet prepared to buy there, indicated by low sales numbers for new cars generated through online sales channels. Typically, sales levels nationally remain below the levels of a traditional dealership of the same brand in the same market. However, whilst not paying off yet in terms of sales, running such a channel can help engagement with customers before a physical shopping process, and gather valuable insights on customer behaviour and preference. Recently, COVID-19 has forced retailers to focus more strongly on digitalisation and online channels in particular, requiring upfront investment but providing opportunities for at least some sales during a lockdown period.
In the webinar, we provided a short update on OEM and third-party transactional online sales channels, whilst primarily focussing on different initiatives operated by dealer groups. We reported on a range of initiatives implemented in European markets, where the customer can at least place a deposit to commit to a car purchase or fully execute the transaction online. Our focus was on the actions of the largest dealer groups, providing an overview of how they are developing their online sales channels, their characteristics in terms of fulfilling different customer requirements such as providing a trade-in facility or finance quotation, and discuss related trends. This was based on in-depth interviews with some of the key players to provide insights on their underlying channel strategies as well as their online propositions and performance to date. We also shared their experiences in how they had to adapt their offer in response to changes in customer behaviour and trading restrictions during the Coivid-19 lockdown period. The presentation also covered weaknesses identified in processes, systems and people that need to be addressed for the channels themselves, but also in order to make omni-channel work properly.
The presentation is available to download below plus a live recording of the webinar.
Also there is a video produced by Asbury, one of the largest US dealer groups, interesting as it describes in some detail what they have just started to roll out in their dealerships. It is available here https://clicklane.com/video