The automobile business has been around for a long time. The internet has changed many industries, but the automobile industry is still stuck in its ways. Automobile dealerships are notorious for having outdated systems that are difficult to use and do not provide the kind of omni-channel customer experience needed in today’s market. However, there is a way to change this: Digital transformation. By digitalising your dealership business through the use of modern technology solutions, you can improve productivity and make it easier for customers to find what they want.

You can start with a basic website that simply includes your contact details, the cars you sell and their features. The website should be designed in a way that makes it easy for visitors to navigate through. You can also add features such as a contact form, a map showing directions and opening hours so that customers have an idea about when they can visit you.

A good e-commerce platform is like a brochure that contains all information related to what you sell. It helps customers understand your product better before buying it and lets them make decisions on which product they should buy according to their needs.

Build a Digital Showroom

You can create an interactive website that provides information about the vehicles available in your showroom, with the option to compare features - we call this a Digital Showroom. Customers can filter information based on their preferences. They can save time by comparing models in one place without having to visit each individual car company’s website for this purpose.

You can create an online form to gather customer information, such as selecting the type of car they are interested in, their budget and expected delivery date.

• Create an online form to gather customer information, such as selecting the type of car they are interested in, their budget and expected delivery date.

• Track leads through your lead management software.

• Filter and sort lead by prospect type, sales representative and other criteria.

• Use an omni-channel inventory management system to help you organise your stock based on demand and availability. You can also integrate this with the customer information you have stored in the commerce cloud or on your computer so that all relevant details are available at once when it comes time for a sale or purchase.

You can create real-time updates about stock levels and prices so that customers don't feel like they're getting ripped off when they buy something from you.

Managing & Nurturing Leads

An automotive e-commerce platform will require lead management software to store customer information and be able to track the leads and manage them. There are many types of this software available online and they can help your business in many ways.

If you choose to use oOrjit Auto, CRM and lead management are already built-in to help your sales team with their sales process as they can easily see what needs to be done next with each client or potential customer who visits the dealership premises. There is also a complete appointment scheduling capability, customer profiling and more.

CRM solutions provide real-time updates regarding your customer interactions, enabling the sales team to determine what kind of car and offers interest them. This helps the sales team target customers better and keep track of customer interactions.

Tracking all interactions with the customer

This feature allows your sales team to follow up on leads based on purchase history and customers’ preferences. The more customers know about you, the more likely they will buy from you again. By having this data at your fingertips and being able to use it for marketing purposes, your business can be much more efficient in terms of customer acquisition and retention.

In addition to automated emails that are sent out after a sale is made (or any other event), the CRM system also allows for the creation of campaigns that target specific audiences based on their purchase history or personal preferences. For example, if someone has bought from one dealership but not another one down the street then sending an email with special offers could help sway them into making their next car purchase at your brand instead of theirs! This feature helps drive loyalty between customers as well as increase revenue through closed-loop marketing strategies such as cross-selling/upselling opportunities which usually result in higher profit margins due to less overhead costs associated with each transaction.

Configuring Vehicles & Preferences

Customers should be able to access your digital showroom and at a glance configure interior and exterior preferences, model type, colour and all the value add options you provide in one simple user interface.

Connecting Vehicle Inventory - Even Pre-Vin

Perhaps your platform uses Autoline or another ERP system to manage the inventory of your vehicles, that's great. We have already integrated many ERP systems including Autoline so that your digital showroom can display vehicles to customers that you have in stock.

Go one step further, place an order with your manufacturers at the Pre-vin phase and choose to expose that new inventory with expected delivery times to customers in your digital showroom. Allow customers to place vehicles on order, with deposits and sell cars the moment you have ordered them.

Showroom Test Drive Management

Busy showrooms have vehicles on the test drive all day and every day. Often managing the coming and going of test drives with customers can prove to be a logistical nightmare. With your digital showroom, all appointments made for test drives are stored per showroom and allow both salespeople and customers to choose test drive times and locations that best suit them.

What about finance options and trade-ins?

Absolutely, your digital showroom empowers your customers to apply for finance online and upload details about a vehicle they would like to trade in so that the entire process is digitally recorded and convenient for the customer and dealership. Once the information is entered, your digital showroom will inform the correct department in your dealership to authorise the terms and conditions of the finance or trade-in available to the customer and the salesperson can have a response in seconds to optimise the likelihood of closing the sale with the customer.

Reporting & Intelligence

Imagine a 360-degree view of customers, inventory, salespersons and showrooms across the world or within your dealership. oOrjit’s dealership platform provides this intelligence so that management can action decisions in real-time and keep a clear view of KPI sensitivities across every aspect of their business.

In Summary

There are many good reasons why automobile dealerships are going digital. Contact oOrjit today and ensure your dealership leads the next generation of automobile sales.