2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 15:44
More and more new car buyers purchase their cars via the World Wide Web. A study also shows the weaknesses of car dealers in dealing with potential customers.
Car dealerships are increasingly having to contend with competition from the World Wide Web. While mainly only used cars were sold via the portals in the 1990s, online trading in new cars has also been established for around five years. The cars offered here are usually significantly cheaper and, as a current study by the Center Automotive Research (CAR) shows, the bottom line is that buyers are more satisfied than classic dealership customers.
Simple comparison options
When buying a new car on the Internet, the customer can relatively easily compare the prices of several providers and then decide on an offer. Because he forego services such as personal advice, test drives and trade-ins for his used car, the cars are on average 15 percent cheaper. So it's no wonder that more and more people are deciding to buy online, even if they may have to drive up to 100 kilometers to the dealer. Because after a user has decided on a car, the request from the internet broker is passed on to a nearby branded dealer. The CAR anticipates that more than 35,000 new cars will be sold on the Internet again this year.
A survey of 200 customers of the online portal meinauto.de and 129 car dealership customers showed that Internet customers are significantly more satisfied. On the one hand, they are convinced that they have achieved a particularly high discount. Secondly, in retrospect, they are more satisfied with their choice of vehicle and equipment.
Internet customers are served faster
The generally positive evaluation of online purchases should also contribute to the fact that customers generally receive a response to an inquiry by email or fax or a response to a request for a callback much faster than car dealership customers. According to the study, 62.5 percent of Internet shoppers received an answer within twelve hours, compared to only 30 percent of the others. When it comes to payment, however, online buyers are significantly more critical than those who go to the retailer. While 45 percent of www customers have a secure feeling when paying the purchase price, 64 percent of the dealership clientele do.
Many car manufacturers and dealers take a critical view of online purchases. But the skepticism is unfounded, says Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, head of the CAR. Rather, he sees this as another sales channel with which price-sensitive customers can be addressed. So far, car dealerships have offered these customers inexpensive vehicles with daily registration or young company cars that are up to 20 percent cheaper on average. If all these vehicles were sold on the Internet at an average discount of 15 percent, the industry could earn around 450 million euros more annually. mid
