Boost your pre-owned online car sales

delivered or just collect it from the dealership, is that important profit centres for the car retailer – and useful products for the customer – can be overlooked.

Finance facilities is a big example, but this can be overcome with comprehensive and easy to understand details of each finance product on the website, with the customer having the ability to obtain a personalised quote and apply online. However, the features and benefits of products such as extended warranties, service plans, and paint/fabric/wheel protection also need to be prominent and easy to apply for.

Customers searching for a specific make and model with certain extras and a chosen colour will use a search engine, and often that car will be far away at a car retailer they don’t know. Therefore, creating trust and transparency from the very start is vital. Sadly, our industry is being unfairly tarnished by scam online dealers who advertise cars that don’t exist, taking the customer’s money upfront and then disappearing.

Key ingredients

Building trust is vital, and showing Trustpilot scores and positive customer reviews will help this, along with a number of other key ingredients:

• A fully functional website that looks professional and is easy to navigate. The ‘About us’ section is essential to give an indication of who the customer is buying from.

• A range of quality images, ideally a video, and both with a professional backdrop.

• A detailed description of the car and its history.

• An easy to use part-exchange valuation tool.

• Clear guidance on next steps and contact details for further information. A well-managed ‘chat’ tool can be helpful.

I would also suggest that, like mystery shopping in the showroom carried out by an OEM or third party, car retailers carry out regular checks of their online experience to find out which stages of the customer journey work – and which don’t. I have seen the highs and lows, and those experiences clearly influence future purchases.

Savvy car retailers can be very successful in the digital sales age as they have so many advantages to capitalise on. But if you want to be one of those businesses then you’ll need a great online system, strong processes, and professional teams to provide a seamless and professional experience for the customer.

Put these all together and when digital meets physical, both customers and car retailers are winners.

Peter Cottle

is consulting director at finance advisory company Finativ