Online Shopping to Online Buying

[Jewanski]

About 3 years ago I tried to streamline an online sales process for customers to select, negotiate, finance and trade, and ultimately purchase a vehicle without ever stepping foot in the dealership. Even though it didn't work out, remnants of the process remain in one form or another on our website.

After looking at Shop-Click-Drive, hearing a pitch on Autotrader's product with a similar function, and seeing another post about Penske's similar widget and Autonation's, I'm wondering if the technology and the culture (of shoppers and dealers) has caught up with the concept.

Has anyone else had a good experience with a similar product/process (because it is neither and both at the same time - A website button with management support is just a broken link.

 

[ispekhov]

www.carvana.com
www.beepi.com

 

[craigh]

Selling cars online is the reality. The big players know it, Buffett knows it and so do many of the smaller players.
It comes down to process, implementation, legality and follow-through.

IMHO of course.
This is a much larger discussion.

 

[joe.pistell]

Selling cars online is the reality. The big players know it, Buffett knows it and so do many of the smaller players.
It comes down to process, implementation, legality and follow-through.

IMHO of course.
This is a much larger discussion.

eCommerce for cars a reality?

From my shopper research to date, car dealer's are too important to shoppers for ecommerce to impact the biz.

Joe

 

[Tallcool1]

We can't even get a customer to buy a vehicle on ebay.

We sell some vehicles BECAUSE of ebay, but in reality it is nothing more than a lead source for us.

I am by no means saying that it can't be done or that nobody is doing it. I just feel that we are generation(s) away from a true eCommerce for our store.

I believe I saw a post a couple weeks ago about the Shop-Click-Drive thing. The member said they had been using it for about a year and had 1 transaction.

 

[craigh]

eCommerce for cars a reality?

From my shopper research to date, car dealer's are too important to shoppers for ecommerce to impact the biz.

Joe

By no means will it be all of them or the sort of paradigm shift that sees in-dealership sales decrease, but buying on cars is already happening now, so there's no point in denying it's existence. I would rather never set foot in a dealership again - I would like to purchase my next car online, including all back-office options, and have it delivered. I see no reason why this isn't possible with Carvana quality information and a proper shipping procedure.

 

[Jewanski]

What is the hang up to the process? Where is the hesitation? If you watch the video on beepi's homepage, one of the main reassurances is the "vehicle inspection process" and the no hassle money back guarantee. Which seems designed to pre-emptively handle peoples fears of buying a used car without seeing it first. But new cars are new, and still not a lot of traction on the product. ( Shop click drive)
So is the industry not ready? Or is this where we are going? I do feel this is a big discussion.

 

[Bill Simmons]

I don't see us becoming a true e-commerce industry, entire purchase completed online, anytime soon. But I have been researching different tools available for our websites that can help the customer complete more of the process before arriving at the store. Does anyone here use and have experience with the Digital Retail Suite offered by DealerTrack and Dealer.com? Or the new Cox product, MakeMyDeal? If so, please share.

 

[paulray]

I just don't see us going to a completely online e-commerce delivery model any time soon. I think buying a car is more like buying a house. I would not purchase my home by looking at pictures of it online even with a money back guarantee. It's still a very emotionally driven decision and an expensive one at that.

 

[joe.pistell]

I would rather never set foot in a dealership again - I would like to purchase my next car online, including all back-office options, and have it delivered.

Let's talk design strategy. Of 100 car shoppers, how many fit the profile you'e described? Let's create a study!

1. We watch our 100 car shoppers approach the buying phase. We separate out all shoppers that have very strong product knowledge and brand preference. How many are left?
2. Next, from those that remain, we separate out shoppers have that enough knowledge and confidence to buy without going to a dealership.

We began with 100 car shoppers, how many remain? This is how large TODAY's audience is.

The great design challenge of 2015 tries to understand why so many shoppers PREFER the car dealer visit.