Advertisement feature: How better buying journeys can meet changing customer needs

Advertisement feature from iVendi

James Tew, CEO, iVendi

When it comes to the buying journeys offered by motor retailers, two key trends have emerged that are helping to transform customer expectations.

Firstly, buyers are realising that the way they’ve been transacting digitally in other retail sectors is now possible when buying a car, a trend that was very much accelerated during the pandemic. Secondly, extremely high-profile and well-funded digital disruptors arriving in the market and, while their difficulties have been widely reported in recent times, they are still investing heavily in transforming customer expectations as a way of gaining a competitive advantage.

How should established dealers react? In our view, by accepting that how car buyers behave is evolving and adopting the best technology available alongside the creation of a genuine change in culture. By doing this, they can compete against any other motor retailer – and emulate the best digital customer experiences available anywhere. With the right technology and the right attitude, traditional dealers can thrive and do so using products that are easily available at a competitive cost and strategies that are well-proven in the real world.

Crucially, this approach can help dealers not only maximise the potential of their online sales but their showroom activity, too. Thanks to having a physical presence and staff accustomed to selling vehicles, these established businesses can offer a crucial advantage over digital-only rivals - an in-person experience.

iVendi’s new white paper - “Better Buying Journeys” - looks at some of this latest thinking in customer buying journeys, explains their relevance to your business, and provides guidance on how to implement these ideas.

It details how the right technology - such as iVendi’s Connected Retailing range - can help you generate the data required to accurately measure and analyse consumer behaviour, dynamically provide the search results for which online buyers are looking, reassure them they’re dealing with a reputable and helpful business, and simplify the online journey to make buying easy. Then, it shows how recognising why and in what ways consumer habits have changed can help bring about a crucial shift in culture that genuinely recognises the needs of modern vehicle buyers, ultimately delivering the buying experience they expect.

We believe it is essential reading for any motor retailer who is interested in improving their customer experience.

iVendi’s “Better Buying Journeys” white paper is available by visiting ivendi.com/better-buying-journeys.

The iVendi Connected Retail range

ENGAGE is designed to help consumers find the right vehicle by rewriting the rules for online car, van and motorcycle search using the natural language adopted by the majority of vehicle buyers.

CONVERT facilitates the process of transforming initial online consumer interest in a vehicle into a sale through a range of essential features.

TRANSACT develops online consumer interest in a specific vehicle through to a final transaction while managing the complexities of the sales process and includes iVendi’s innovative Digital Deal.

About iVendi

Founded in 2009, iVendi is the market leader in connected motor retail technology, creating digital products that help customers to buy vehicles more easily and dealers to sell them more efficiently, both online and in the showroom. The company’s technology interacts with around five million consumers every month and thousands of motor retailers, manufacturers and finance providers.