From a dealer perspective, the first thing I see when I think about AI doing the buying is margins shrinking even further. As some point, that has to give, too, right? We're starting to hijack this thread with a slightly different topic, though.
This is an interesting question to discuss..and I think it inherently ties into the original poster's idea.
There's a few common themes here that Ive noticed in 5 pages.
1. The original poster is focused on "cost/ROI", but not intimately familiar with the existing competitive space and their unique advantages. This in and of itself is an interesting (albeit..self-handicapping) approach.
2. That 3rd party listing platforms are dealer-centric, not shopper-centric (true).
3. That AI will likely change #2 over time.
The question is...does anyone want AI doing so...or even at the core of any shopping platform? As others in here mentioned, being, "data nerds", some of us like to have 100 options to tick through, and choose our own approach to comparison shopping. Others need their hand held.
The best future platform solves the above. Choose your own adventure, OR take a guided tour.
I would think figuring out options/trims/overall improvement of the results accuracy would be low hanging fruit towards creating (or improving) a shopper-centric approach. A large % of the "Crew cabs" filtered on the 3rd party sites are still double cabs in photos, and bed size selector seems to be a mystery for all trucks when you search.
The other part about "what trims would be best"...well, we probably dont want AI answering that for us to deliver matches, at least not today or tomorrow. First...ask AI questions now about comparing vehicle X to Y..the responses are of highly questionable accuracy to begin with. Two...if we're doing to discuss shrinking margins, the quickest way to get there is to let AI choose the trims for you.
Options vs. trims is likely still going to be best handled for many with a hands on approach, with the salesperson handling the "AI" portion..but not many people want to discuss that as it involves to admitting obvious flaws in the current abilities of sales staff, and because its always easier to try to throw tech at a people problem.
