The Ultimate Guide to Distance Selling

Click & Collect vs Home Delivery

The two methods of operating distance selling are click & collect, whereby a buyer purchases the vehicle and then travels to the retailer to pick up the vehicle, and home delivery where the vehicle is purchased and delivered to the buyer by the retailer.

In both instances the purchase has to made away from the retail premises, in accordance with current restrictions in England, and buyers will legally be entitled to a 14 day return period from when they take ownership of the vehicle. This is a legal obligation and must be explained to the buyer during the buying process.

 Trading standards expert Peter Stonely explained that these rights cannot be removed by a disclaimer and failure to communicate the 14 day right to cancel period, to a buyer through contract or on your website, will mean that they automatically have 12 months to cancel. He suggests that retailers should highlight the 14 day right to cancel on your website as well as sent to the buyer via email and/or post.

 Whilst Home Delivery will require the use of resources to get the vehicle to buyers, Click & Collect simply requires you to have the ability to sell a vehicle online or over the phone, so no matter what kind of retailer you are you can offer Click & Collect.

If you are concerned about buyers travelling to you then don’t worry. Nona Bowkis, legal advisor at Lawgistics confirms that buyers are allowed to travel to collect a pre-purchased vehicle in all parts of the UK.

She also highlights that a premises car park can be used for the collection element since regulations state that car parks can be used as a collection point so long as a deposit or payment has been made prior to collection.

Buyers don’t know what they can’t see

It may seem like an obvious step but it’s arguably the most important – if you’re not shouting about the fact you offer Click & Collect and/or Home Delivery than buyers won’t know you offer these services.

You can add Click & Collect and Home Delivery options on your Auto Trader adverts by heading into Portal and activating them on your dashboard. But don’t stop there, be sure that you are highlighting your distance selling features on your website and in all your communications with buyers, whether it be by email, on the phone or through your social channels.

Descriptions and images are great – but video is best

Optimising your digital forecourt is key to attracting buyers when your physical forecourt is closed and buyers are wary of venturing out. Ensure that your images and description are as clear and as accurate as possible – shining the best light on your stock.

Remember if a buyer purchases a vehicle and there is even the slightest error in the description, they can exercise their consumer rights and return it to you for a full refund.

We recently spoke to Sean Cantillon, managing director, Cedar Specialist Cars and this year’s Auto Trader Retailer of the Year who highlighted that he sends personalised videos to each prospective buyer in order to build trust and transparency with them. This is something that is lacking when it comes to remote selling and retailers should do all they can to build trust with prospective buyers, particularly through videos which allow buyers to get a full view of the vehicle and have an experience beyond just viewing images and a description online.

To view our digital forecourt best practises head over to https://trade.autotrader.co.uk/guides/best-practice/

Tackling Test Drives

Whilst test drives can’t be taken from forecourts in England, retailers are able to take a vehicle to a potential buyer’s home and allow them to take a test drive from their home.

When it comes to test drive usage, there is no pre-defined limit set out for how many miles a potential buyer can cover on a test drive from a legal perspective. It’s therefore critical to clearly outline in your distance sales contract how many miles are considered reasonable for a test drive. Ideally, use what you would define as “reasonable” in normal conditions as your benchmark.

Overcoming the Fear of Returns

One of the risks of distance selling that concerned retailers the most was the likelihood of a customer rejecting the car. But both Nona and Sean revealed that, in their experience, this happens in very few cases. Having confidence in the vehicle you are selling, the transaction experience you are giving the customer, having a rudimentary understanding of distance selling and making consumers aware of their rights was key to successfully operating a remote selling process both now, at a time when it’s the only model available, and in the future when consumers will see buying this way as the normal.

Dissecting the Details of Distance Selling regulations

A third of retailers we polled that do not offer remote services did so because they were concerned about government guidelines and unsure of distance selling legislation. The full regulations can be found by clicking here but main thing retailers must abide by when it comes to distance selling is the 14 day cancellation period which, as previously stated, is a legal obligation and must me made clear to the buyer. So long as you abide by this you have the main element covered.

But whilst retailers cannot change the 14 day return period, they can include certain terms to make the return process easier for both the retailer and buyer. Nona Bowkis recommends that retailers create a robust set of returns terms and conditions to ensure an easy returns process for both the buyer and retailer. Within these terms Nona suggests that retailers set out how many miles can be covered within this period and what charges will apply should the vehicle be returned with excess mileage e.g. charging £1 a mile if a vehicle is returned with mileage exceeding the figure in the contract. The number of miles permitted to be covered will need to be considered reasonable but there is no pre-defined number. The condition that the vehicle must be in upon return must also be stipulated and Nona also suggests adding a clause as to who’s responsibility it is to deliver the returned vehicle to the forecourt i.e. the buyer must return the vehicle in the event they initiate a return. 

If a vehicle is returned you will be required to refund the buyer in full, if they have adhered to your returns policy. However, if the vehicle was purchased on finance then the retailer will need to liaise with the finance company to enable the refund of funds paid. Most finance companies will already have a facility for returns in such instances.

The problem of part-exchanges

54% of retailers have highlighted part-exchanges as the main challenge they face when it comes to distance selling. Whether this be ascertaining the correct description of collecting the vehicle there are certainly many challenges in this segment of the buying journey.

To help, we are implementing our Guaranteed Part Exchange function.

This function allows a buyer to get a guaranteed value on their vehicle on the Auto Trader platform, saving retailers the time and effort in coming up with a price. If a buyer chooses to go ahead with a purchase along with their guaranteed part-exchange, then the retailer can either accept the part-exchange vehicle at the guaranteed price or pass the vehicle over to our partners Manheim who will pay the retailer the guaranteed value and take away the vehicle – meaning there is no risk at all for the retailer.

This function is in testing right now but you can join the programme at https://trade.autotrader.co.uk/gpx-early-adopter

We are always on hand to help with your distance selling questions and remember that whatever restrictions you are facing, this doesn't mean you have to stop selling - with Auto Trader you are always open.