Dealers Can Still Tap Into Growing List Of Customers Open To Digital Sales

Dealers and the showroom experience they give are still the key factors for two-thirds of used car buyers who say they are not yet ready to buy online – but that still leaves a potential three million fully digital sales a year.

In a wide-ranging report called `Evolution of the Car Buyer’, video presentation specialist, CitNOW, says the overwhelming majority of buyers want a blended buying journey, doing research and comparison online but putting the human element with the dealer in the showroom as the key part of the process.

For dealers, this means they need a website and stock good enough to tempt buyers in and then being able to close the deal with their test drive and face-to-face handling of the customer.

Carol Fairchild, Commercial Director for CitNOW, said:

“Online buying will never work for everyone as many customers rightly value the dealership experience. Car retailers need to strike a balance, building a tailored digital journey for their online customers while ensuring a personal experience on the forecourt.”

“With personalised video and mobile technology becoming the norm, the online research and purchasing process can be as transparent and trustworthy as going to a dealership.”

A Tailored Digital Journey For Online Customers

The report revealed a North-South divide when it comes to adopting online car buying, with drivers in Northern Ireland (53%) and the North-West (42%) of England most likely to buy a car entirely online. Buyers in the East Midlands are least likely to consider a purely digital purchase.

Perhaps unsurprisingly it also showed a difference in age groups being willing to fully trust a digital purchase with 35 to 44-year-olds being the most likely to buy without physically seeing the car or visiting the dealer. In stark contrast, those over 55 are the least likely to go down this route and there is even some reluctance among the youngest buyers, those aged between 18 and 24 despite them having grown up in a far more digital and online environment.

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