Today, 80% of car purchases are made on digital channels. More specifically, 19 out of 24 touchpoints along the consumer car buying journey are digital. The entire process of the dealer selection mainly takes place online – before a sales advisor even has the opportunity to get involved. Every eighth car buyer orders online and additionally 80% of online buyers opted for a different dealer than initially planned (see Manager Magazin).

The Corona crisis is accelerating the trend towards digitalisation and, above all, the creation of digital sales opportunities for consumers enormously. For the most part, the automotive retail is only just waking up from its “digital sleep” and is now desperately trying to make up for lost places in the online race. According to the ZDK, only 7% of German car dealers have a digital strategy. That means most dealerships are still not equipped with a digital target picture, strategic goals and dedicated digital measures that contribute to the target achievement. This implies dealerships lacking the right mindset to understand digitalization as a "move to a digital business model”.  Furthermore, there is still not enough internal capacity to achieve the digital goals that have been set. Twenty one percent of dealers only employ one single person who is responsible for digital marketing and it is usually not a priority.

This means that, in addition to managing the sales team and ensuring that targets are achieved, a sales manager, for example, should prepare digital analyses, derive optimisation potentials, manage digital agencies, optimise the online presence, improve the Google ranking, expand fan communities on social networks and plan, implement and measure targeted online marketing campaigns. However, sales managers usually do not have the necessary online skills to effectively manage the digital sales funnel.

Influenced by online shopping trends and the great experiences and possibilities that consumers are having with Amazon on a daily basis, the demands on online channels are correspondingly high. Consumers are now comparing their experiences across all industries.

For example, those who had a positive experience with an online identification procedure to open a bank account expect the same experience when signing a contract to buy a car. For consumers it is incomprehensible why they have to wait in line for an appointment to change a tire, while they can get all the information in an Al-based chat when buying a Miele washing machine. There is a wide range of great digital solutions on the market, dealers just have to buy into it.

An optimal combination of online and offline channels is not only important for a test drive request, sales conversation or making a service appointment - the digital customer experience should clearly be the focus of attention. Creating a high-quality customer experience can feel like searching for the holy grail. Customer experience does not mean directly burning down an incredibly fascinating firework of experiences off the cuff – one starts small and then it is a development process. The journey is the reward here. Strategy, data, design and people: All this works together to create the wow factor between customers and car dealerships.
 

In times of Corona, it is easy to observe that the few exceptions among car dealerships that have already established a good digital foundation are now entering the digitalisation turbo. For example, the Emil Frey Group recently presented its new Internet platform for online car sales, with a proud selection of 10,000 available vehicles. The dealer group has recognized the digital developments and the changing customer expectations and has set the right course internally to make the car selling future-proof.

This totally matches the trend - because even today, two out of three car buyers can imagine buying their car online, starting from the information research up to the final purchase (see Thinking with Google). Digital alternatives for consumers when buying a car, such as live video consultation or digital contract processing, are more and more in vogue or even demanded. Faster than ever, sales advisors with an affinity for digital technologies are developing into modern online consultants who use tablets to configure dream cars together with their customers or make on-demand videos available online to interested parties.

Digital service consulting is also experiencing a significant development surge. Customers of modern car dealerships no longer have to visit the dealership to get their car serviced, but can conveniently view, approve and pay for any additional work via video while drinking a coffee in the office.