Innovation and technological development are always at the forefront of a constantly evolving car industry. As a business we are always looking at ways of improving the products and the way in which we market them in order to engage with customers in an ever changing world.
Since the internet has started to take such a lead role in virtually everything associated with selling cars it means that today’s buyers demand far more from dealers before they part with their money.
The internet is driving many aspects of car sales and the latest innovations are aimed at assisting the online car buyer to take the sales process as far as possible while still sitting at home. We have revealed previously how quickly multi-picture adverts and comprehensive descriptions have taken on more importance in terms of giving customers confidence in both the cars being marketed and the dealers trying to sell to them.
Now we hear one of the latest innovations, which some dealers are likely to be trying soon, is a type of portable web-cam which a car salesperson will use to give an online buyer a real-time demonstration of a car. A customer interested in a car for sale would call or email the showroom about the car in question and then log onto the web cam and let the salesperson give them a live tour around the car enabling them to highlight any items of spec that are of particular interest.
If there are any minor imperfections the dealer would be able to actually show the customer up close in order to assist them in maybe making a quicker decision on whether to purchase ,or at least make a visit to view in person, having satisfied themselves that they are happy that the car fits into their requirements.
This also lessens the amount of time they may use up trawling around car showrooms comparing and contrasting, which some enjoy but many do not.
From the dealers point of view it helps to offer transparency and ensure that nobody has their time wasted (except perhaps the slightly self conscious salesperson wandering around the showroom with a webcam).
If the technology is good enough and the pictures are of sufficient quality it might just take off especially in our time starved society where decisions need to be made quickly and patience is not necessarily a virtue. But it may be a case of ideas running way ahead of the technology because if the image quality isn’t crystal clear then it probably defeats the whole object.