Recent research from Auto Trader's Market Report reveals that the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of online car buying behaviour as consumers and retailers adapt to a surge in shopping from home.
The stats reveal that among consumers who bought a vehicle in 2020, many would have liked to have completed more of the jobs digitally, with almost half (46%) choosing to buy online for ease and convenience. A further 35% of consumers want to purchase online to get the car quicker, 33% want to buy online because they think it's easier to compare deals, and 23% of people want to buy online to avoid haggling in a showroom.
Clearly, consumers are looking to complete more of the buying process online, and OEMs are increasingly under pressure to offer a seamless, digital car-buying journey. However, this is not an easy challenge. The car buying process involves the digital showroom, car configurator, offers and finance, stock cars, dealer finder, used car, parts and accessories, brand merchandise and customer service.
Consumers are facing up to 31 individual customer interaction touchpoints across multiple platforms on OEM websites. When you add in the e-commerce element, the car-buying journey becomes even more difficult and time-consuming.
Research from our Online Readiness Scorecard, which rates all UK brands on their omnichannel capabilities, reveals that three leading OEMs, which recently introduced new eCommerce channels, ended up harming the online customer experience with the additional functionality.
With the eCommerce sections added, all three websites became more cluttered, journeys more disjointed and the messaging more confusing. As a result, it was even more challenging to select the right car and payment method than before.
The good news is that the most significant conversion improvements usually come from eliminating a few dead ends, joining the individual website sections into seamless shopping journeys and providing clear messaging throughout.
Typically, conversion optimisation projects start with web analytics. Unfortunately, in automotive omnichannel retailing, the journeys are far more complex. The number of channels, lapsed time, item value, and the levels of commitment and risk all make it more challenging than buying a t-shirt or Prime membership on Amazon.
The answer is to create a simple retail conversion funnel (not complex user journey maps), divided into the awareness, consideration, purchase and retention layers. The next step is to overlay the functionality needed to move shoppers from one layer down to another.
The final step is identifying the improvements required to smoothen the journeys, usually achievable by changing links, labels and content via the website CMS platform.
Of course, this approach won't fix everything, but it will quickly eliminate the worst bottlenecks, increase conversion rates, and bring everyone closer to the expected sales volumes.
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