Auto dealers are investing significantly in their digital footprints, and ecommerce capabilities as consumers increasingly voice their preference to bring more of the vehicle purchase process online. Today’s customers want greater control over - and transparency throughout - their purchasing journey, and innovative dealers are responding by offering digital retail experiences that are customer-centric, data-driven, and fully synchronized with their brick & mortar showroom operations.
And fortunately, auto ecommerce is not only becoming more popular with customers - when done right, it can also be a powerful new profit-driver for dealers. Digitizing the customer journey provides an incredible opportunity for dealers to maximize PVR, or profit per vehicle retailed, but only if they leverage an ecommerce solution that lets them embrace these profit-boosting best practices:
#1: Drive F&I Awareness & Choice Throughout the Customer Journey
To maximize PVR, dealers must abandon the practice of only presenting F&I products at the very end of the purchase journey. Understandably, many customers regard this legacy ritual to be among the least fun aspects of buying a vehicle and view these products simply as “add-ons” the dealer is trying to sell after the purchase decision has been made.
Fortunately, ecommerce gives dealers the ability to introduce customers to relevant F&I products much earlier in - and throughout - their online research & buying journey. If customers are introduced and educated about products relevant to the vehicle they are interested in, their needs, and their preferences, they will be much more likely to purchase. But dealers must leverage an e-commerce solution that gives them the flexibility to determine what offers are made and the data-driven intelligence to offer the most impactful and relevant products at the most impactful moments of the customer’s buying journey:
- Leverage a solution that lets the dealer configure precisely what F&I products and accessories are presented to online customers and presents them at points in the process that are most statistically likely to drive conversion
- Deploy a solution that can intelligently recommend products that are personalized based upon the unique customer profile. Throughout the online process, customers provide information and insights about their needs, interests, and preferences. To maximize PVR, use an ecommerce solution that leverages this valuable data to automatically identify the most relevant F&I products, so sales team members can tailor their discussions to focus on relevant products.
- Make sure you are educating, and not simply selling. Be sure that your ecommerce solution can present F&I products to customers not simply as line items or “extras,” but rather lets dealers communicate the value of the products being offered. Video integration, dealer-customizable product descriptions, and the ability to link to additional information, are particularly impactful features for educating online customers.
#2: Integrate the Online & Showroom F&I Experience
Though many customers are eager to conduct their vehicle research - and most of the purchase process - online, a visit to the showroom is almost always a part of the process. Customers may want to see their new vehicle in person and take it out for a test-drive, they may want to get a valuation “in-person” for their trade-in vehicle (though leading ecommerce solutions allow for this to be done exclusively online), or they may want to meet the dealership team before making a final purchase decision.
Regardless of where a customer is in the buying journey when they walk into the showroom, the dealer team should be able to seamlessly pick up where the customer’s online experience left off. This requires a solution that captures all of the information a customer provided during their time online, tracks all of the offers and information they were presented during their online experience and makes it all instantly available to showroom staff. With this, team members can be fully informed about a customer’s preferences and progress, and seamlessly continue the F&I awareness and education process with them when they walk in.
- Leverage a solution that captures each online customers’ preferences, choices, and F&I product exposure and makes this profile easily available to staff. Team members must be able to instantly access a rich customer profile, detailing precisely the customer’s online activity and selections, so they can pick up right where they left off and continue evangelizing relevant F&I products.
- Deploy a solution that empowers showroom staff to “customize the deal” from the showroom floor. When customers walk into the dealership, they may have already been offered compelling F&I products throughout their online journey, but may want some changes made to the pricing or terms. When appropriate, dealer staff must have the ability to easily adjust the terms of selected products and the deal overall in real-time. If the customer later picks up the purchase process again online, the changes made to their deal-terms should be instantly reflected and transparent when they visit the dealer website.
The growing popularity of auto ecommerce not only provides a great opportunity for dealers to deliver ever-more compelling and personalized experiences for their customers, but it also gives them the ability to maximize their gross profit per vehicle retailed. To take full advantage of the emerging digital revolution, dealers must ensure the ecommerce solution they deploy provides the features and functionality that put them in total control of how customers engage the F&I process. By prioritizing the capabilities discussed above, dealers will be well-positioned for sustainable success and profitability.
Sources:. Vehicle Price Transparency Study 2020, University of Texas at Austin.
