From Clicks to Bricks: Customers on your forecourt are ready to close
The traditional bricks and mortar sales approach has been significantly disrupted in recent years. Consumers no longer rely on a visit to the forecourt to inform their purchase decisions, instead choosing to complete their research and shortlisting digitally from the comfort of their own home. And while they may be doing more online, the role of retailers has become more crucial than ever in ensuring their customers have the tools they need for a streamlined buying experience. From comparing prices, features, and customer reviews to exploring virtual showrooms and watching video reviews, retailers must shape the digital landscape to provide a comprehensive shopping experience that can support a purchase decision.
Experiencing a ‘digital first’ approach to car buying means the majority of customers are now arriving purchase-ready and on average are looking to purchase from further away, especially where digital services have been made available.
As retailers accommodate this shift by offering more digital services, consumers are increasingly embracing the convenience and benefits provided. This in turn evolves their expectations and demands, creating a powerful synergy between consumer behaviour and retailer response. This is evident when comparing year on year growth trends in consumers arriving at the forecourt purchase ready.
Findings from our latest insight report ‘Digital Journeys, Physical Retailing: How the most successful retailers are unlocking the potential of omnichannel’ revealed that in 2019, 32% of consumers arrived at the forecourt ready to purchase.
Today, due to the growing availability of digital services and the ability to complete more of these jobs online, this has risen to more than half. In just 3 years, the number of people arriving at a dealership ready to buy has increased by two thirds (66%).
So why offer an omnichannel retail experience when customers are doing more online?
Despite this major shift in consumers doing increasingly more online there is still clear evidence that suggests many consumers still prefer to complete some key steps of the process on the forecourt. Our latest insight report identified that almost half of customers surveyed still prefer to visit the forecourt to:
Inspect a car
Complete a finance agreement
Negotiate a deal
Finalise their car purchase
By giving customers the choice and flexibility to choose what they do online, when they want to do it, you make their car buying experience that much easier. Facilitating this journey for them is what builds their trust in your business and helps them arrive at your door purchase ready.
The more you expand your suite of digital services, the more purchase ready your customers become and the more interest you will generate from buyers beyond your local area.
Closing the sale then becomes less about what you do in-person with the customer, and more around providing a seamless transition to the forecourt for customers that have satisfied their needs using your digital services first.
“People bounce between online and in person, and that transition between the two needs to be really efficient, really straight-forward, and really easy to do. If a consumer is on your website or advert, it needs to be very obvious how they can make their next steps.”
Saber Ali, Alfa Romeo Sales Manager, Research Garage
Want to learn more?
No matter where your business is on your omnichannel retailing journey, our new insight report will equip you with the information and tools you need to maximize your full performance potential.