Online retailing tools for dealership digital readiness | Automotive News

Previously, consumers had limited options when shopping for a new vehicle. Walking into a dealership was the only sure way to explore finance options, trade-in values, and other car-buying tasks. But today, all shopping, including vehicle buying, can begin and end virtually anywhere - online, in-store, or a combination of both paths.

Empower customers to arrive at your virtual or actual doorstep from all channels: your dealership’s website, in-store, or wherever a consumer finds your business. Providing consumers the flexibility to engage in the manner they choose but maintaining continuity and data if they move between channels helps create a smoother car-buying experience.

No matter how the sale is completed, consumers enjoy beginning the buying process from the comfort of their own environments. That means that dealerships need to ensure they're up to speed on what it will take to prepare for digital readiness.

Now more than ever, it is imperative that dealers allow consumers to access their brand, inventory, and buying experience digitally. Digital retailing does not necessarily mean full-blown eCommerce, as many of today's shoppers still want to complete the transaction in the showroom; it just means that dealers should be a little more accommodating in allowing the process to begin and end in different places—or an omnichannel experience.

Several particulars must be considered to ensure that your store is on the path to "digital readiness."

One of the most critical aspects of the continually evolving shopping behavior is allowing customers to engage from any device at any time. To ensure you are at the point of sale, it's important to make sure they can see your vehicle and have the tools to progress the sale forward. This strategic approach is key to staying ahead in the digital retailing game.

Allow the customer to "kick the tires" and self-educate themselves. Featuring mobile-friendly photos and videos can enhance your virtual showroom.

An ideal dealership digital retail workflow allows customers access to a straightforward process with a detailed deal breakdown at every step.

Investing in a digital retail tool that uses data from an online credit application to calculate accurate taxes and fees based on a consumer's location offers significant benefits to dealerships. By providing precise pricing, dealerships can enhance the customer experience, build trust, and reduce the likelihood of surprises during the final stages of the sales process in-store. This accuracy also streamlines the transaction process, minimizing the need for manual calculations and reducing errors for improved efficiency. Additionally, it positions your dealership as a tech-savvy business, catering to today's consumers who value convenience in their vehicle-buying journey.

Aftermarket sales can be showcased online as part of digital readiness. This empowers consumers to research pricing and other important details to determine which products best fit their needs.

The experience should be designed to allow consumers to proceed at their own pace, and dealers can remain in control of their process with insights into how and where the consumer is proceeding in their buying journey.

As technology changes and the marketplace's requirements ebb and flow, one constant in vehicle sales is still the need to manage daily dealership compliance needs.

Remember to consider compliance when creating and updating a digital retail workflow. One of the most prominent aspects of determining your overall level of digital readiness is ensuring that the compliance process in your virtual showroom is aligned with your physical showroom.

A consistent compliance process across all your shopping channels is crucial because it helps ensure customers have a seamless experience online and in-store. It can also enhance customer satisfaction, which could lead to building loyalty and repeat business.

The best digital tools will allow you to automate one or more of your compliance processes. Multiple compliance checks can be completed online in the virtual showroom. For example, once you have a signed credit application, you can initiate red flag checks, identity verification, and the presentation of your privacy notice.

Consumers must enter their personal information and location to receive the most accurate taxes and fees. A robust digital tool will present a checkbox to ensure the customer has read a dealership’s privacy notice and agreed to its terms before continuing to price details.

Verifying a consumer's identity is still one of the most essential dealership compliance tasks. This step can be easily added to the online retailing purchase experience. Online identity verification tools can help verify consumer identity with quizzes, database checks, risk alerts, and OFAC checks. Dealers can send a link to a customer's mobile device or email with instructions for various ways to verify identity. The authenticated information is then run against identity verification tools to check for fraud.

A compliance dashboard provides dealers with a powerful tool to manage and streamline compliance activities. A robust, integrated tool will offer a dealer an at-a-glance view of all compliance activities performed on a deal, saving time and reducing the risk of errors, whether the deal originated online or in-store. In the case of group ownership, a dealer principal can check on a store or an entire group's compliance activities in one place.

A compliance dashboard also improves efficiency by allowing staff to focus more on sales and customer service, knowing compliance is being managed.

Dealerships should also be able to easily set compliance preferences that adhere to a store's individual plan. For example, consider setting risk models for Credit Score Disclosure Notices (CSDN) and the generation of Adverse Action Notices (AAN).

Digital readiness is no longer just an option for dealerships—it's necessary to stay competitive.

Connectivity is also essential; your software solutions must function correctly and work together for a consistent experience for dealers and consumers.

By embracing integrated digital tools that provide data consistency and reporting capabilities, dealerships can streamline the online and in-store purchase and compliance processes. Technologies can enhance customer experiences while adapting to their changing behaviors.

Digital readiness can empower dealerships to respond quickly to market shifts and build a more resilient business. As the vehicle landscape evolves, dealerships that prioritize digital readiness will be best positioned to thrive and grow.

In 2002, RouteOne became a joint venture between Ally Financial, Ford Motor Credit Company, TD Auto Finance, and Toyota Financial Services to become the F&I connection between dealerships and finance sources across the US and Canada. They're integrated with hundreds of DMSs, DSPS, and other industry partners to provide dealers with straightforward solutions for credit applications, digital retail, contracting, and menu presentation. RouteOne's platform and team are renowned for dependability and the unmatched level of customer support they extend. Their flexible tools enable dealers to choose and create the best purchase path for their unique business needs. Reach out to the RouteOne Team to determine your digital readiness today.

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