First, let’s break down E-contracting into the core elements. Bank docs Proof of identity Income proof Credit history Proof of residence Ancillary product docs Rebate qualification docs DMV docs New vehicle information Trade-in information Proof of insurance Tax docs Down payment Sales tax (state, city, county by street address) All these docs have to be … Read more
Technology and internet access has turned consumers into multi-faceted employees. We are all professional researchers. We are all product analysts and reviewers. We are all bankers. (online) We are all travel agents, scheduling our travel and vacations. We are even waiters and waitresses at this point due to Covid-19 rules for self-ordering on your smartphone. … Read more
When we order from Amazon or other online retailers, we don’t even consider where it is being shipped from. We have confidence that once we approve the sale, it will show up at our door. Automotive retailing is undoubtedly different than getting the latest kitchen gadget delivered, but the consumer emotions are the same. Most … Read more
Truth be told, I like beer! Usually, automotive and beer don’t mix, but just like everything in the technology age, some things apply across the board. So, the best place to get a fresh beer is at a local brewery. That’s where this idea was generated as I found myself thinking about how ordering food … Read more
Ecommerce jumped 32.4% this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was projected to “only” jump 18% until the pandemic shifted consumers’ buying habits. Ecommerce will reach 14.4% of all retail sales in 2020 or $794.5 billion in sales. Projected growth is anticipated to slow in 2021, but customers are projected to continue to drive … Read more
Shoppers are looking for the least friction possible when shopping on your website or VDP’s. How easily and quickly can they start the buying process once the buying trigger goes off in their brain? Traditionally, dealers have just collected leads and then moved the customers to the showroom for the in-person workflow. In today’s new … Read more
When you drop the baton in a relay race, you lose. You often get the same result when the handoff between your Digital Retailing platform and your showroom is dropped. One of the most significant issues that create this dropped baton is when the Digital Retailing platform doesn’t integrate with your showroom platforms. Without integrations, … Read more
Do you allow customers to pre-order the hot new releases? Are customers willing to pay more for this privilege? What would happen if you allow all your customers and website visitors to “pre-order” the vehicle they desire directly from the VDP’s of your website? Suppose you think about digital retailing the same way you think … Read more
Have you ever sold a vehicle over the phone to a customer who just wants to pick up the vehicle? (or have delivered) Most dealerships have executed the “remote phone sale” process and have been able to know the exact gross of the deal. That’s what dealers want when it comes to digital retailing. They … Read more
Automotive online retailing comes with some scary issues. (Halloween post) Scary question #1 – Who approves the deal to make sure it’s profitable? Every deal needs decisioning to be cleared for the final sale. Doing an online deal with “automated” decisioning sounds super scary because the customer gets an “approved” deal that has not been … Read more
