Snows achieves £37m online car sales in last 18 months

Snows Motor Group has revealed it has sold £37m worth of cars online in the last 18 months using its GForces NetDirector Auto-e platform.

During the last nine months, the AM100 car retail group has conducted over 2,700 transactions, with the average used car online purchase being £13,700.

The value of transactions quadrupled to £5.7 million in May 2020 when the company launched its £99 deposit, according to group chief executive, Stephen Snow.

For the year January 2020 to January 2021, Snows saw an overall 27% increase in web leads and 47% rise in live chat leads (and a subsequent 18% increase in conversion). At the same time, the number of users visiting its website has increased by 28% and have also seen a 16% increase in web conversion during the same timeframe.

Snows said 30% of transactions, which span deposits, outright cash purchase, HP and PCP, have also been placed outside of standard office opening hours. Over 60% of its online business has also come from mobile devices.

Stephen Snow, the chief executive of Snows, said, “We are a relatively compact, family-owned business, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t be innovators.

“Over the years, we have always prided ourselves on the quality of our customer service and we were completely focused on ensuring that our online car solution complemented our traditional showroom and the ability to seek support from our physical team when our customers needed it.

“It’s vital that our customers enjoy their online experience, as well as feel comfortable using the site and the transaction tools, so that they come back time and again.

“The results we’ve achieved speak for themselves, but just as importantly, the feedback from our customers has been incredibly positive, long may it continue.”

The retailer, which operates 50 dealerships from across 29 sites across the south of England, launched its initial product, called Click & Go, in August 2019, which saw used car sales soar in 'Lockdown 2'. The company said it acted swiftly to develop its platform with GForces, to create a fully end-to-end online car buying solution.

In addition to increasing its live chat capability, the team began offering video call appointments with personalised walk rounds.

Snows said further developments are in the pipeline for the retailer including the launch of online new car buying solutions with several of its car brand partners, which has gone live with its Volvo offering, with Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Toyota, among others, poised to join the fold in upcoming months.

The second development is online service booking, where customers can book their preferred date and time slot on the Snows website, and the booking will automatically be replicated in the relevant site’s booking system in real-time.

Tim Smith, chief commercial officer at GForces added, “The Snows team were quick to see the potential of online car sales, particularly during the pandemic, investing in the technology for the longer-term health and growth prospects of their business.

“It has paid big dividends for them, not just in terms of the number of transactions they’ve made, but also in the high customer satisfaction scores and incremental sales which they have managed to achieve. We look forward to supporting them as online car sales continues to evolve for many years to come.”