How car supermarket group FOW won Independent Dealer of the Year

The breadth of transformation undertaken by FOW Car Supermarket during 2022 resulted in a winning entry.

Judges were struck by a business which invested heavily to future-proof its operations and drive the skills of staff during 2022.

The opening of a new nine-ramp workshop featuring a solar array large enough to power the business and its expanded line-up of electric vehicle (EV) charge points pushed forward the car supermarket’s bid to achieve net zero.

On top of this, a focus on training and staff benefits, and a new initiative of job rotation where possible, have served to broaden staff knowledge, opportunities and morale.

Digital developments have laid at the heart of FOW’s most recent customer-facing evolution, however.

A new mobile-optimised website, backed by bespoke CMS and CRM systems, was also central to a strategy which marked out FOW as a worthy winner in a busy year for the business.

Its new website facilitated the launch of an online deal builder, which accounted for 14% of sales in 2022, while the faster platform also worked handin-hand with its ‘new sell my car’ stock sourcing initiative to grow private car acquisitions by 60%, with online valuations soaring 245%.

Aligning with the new digital platform was the addition of a team of three new staff members recruited to bring content creation in-house.

Content across TikTok and YouTube helped accelerate the car supermarket’s audience of 25-to-34- year-olds by 21% and 18-to-24-year-olds by 13%.

After a year of heavy investment, FOW looks well placed to prosper.

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