ADD CAR TO SHOPPING CART?

A long time ago, when I worked for my father’s wholesale produce company, he told me that the key to having a successful business was to be able to see where the market is going and get there first.

With that said, here is my question for you: "ARE INTERNET LEADS (and the methods, strategies and gimmicks used to harvest them), AS GOOD AS IT IS GOING TO GET for manufacturers and dealers selling vehicles on online?"

With all of the vast methods, strategies and tactics that we use to generate and harvest internet leads, basically anything that attracts a consumer to a dealership qualifies as a harvesting technique. But, what about actually letting a car buyer…well, buy a car?!?

Back at the dealership, we talk about operating efficiencies and arm ourselves to the rafters with all manner of technology, people and best practices to handle all these expressions of interest. There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of this, (as long as the RFID is sterilized first) but if I see one more Professor Gadget designed auto retail “Solution” that doesn’t actually make it easier to sell or buy a car, I think that a seizure may be imminent.  Car companies and the dealerships they supply exist to design, build, distribute, market and sell cars.  The disconnect I see is that for the last 20+ years, we have used the Internet as if it were some type of billboard on what we used to call the Information Superhighway (does anyone remember that phrase?). 

We have limited our use of this amazing two-way channel to something along the lines of:  "Here we are!  Drive to our showroom RIGHT NOW… Or, call this phone number RIGHT NOW… Or C’mon, go ahead and fill out this form and don’t forget to click on the SUBMIT button!”  

J. D. Power and Associates reports that for the past 4 years the number of online car buyers who are able to resist the above value proposition has been consistently around 80%... There is a profound message that car buyers are telling us about the current obsession we have with “Leads, Leads, Leads are the most wonderful fruit, the more you eat, the more you…”

ADP Digital Marketing has a product to empower car dealers with transactional eCommerce web sites.  Cars get sold directly from the "Deal Builder" function within “My Quotes” which includes credit, tiered interest rates, trade-in values, tax, title, fees, accessories, extended service contracts, protection plans, disclosures and accurate monthly payments.  Dealerships get the selling opportunity regardless as to which step in the process that each consumer feels comfortable completing… Each ADP “My Account” created generates a highly qualified and genuine lead. 

Shopping cart ecommerce has become a major force to be reckoned with in every other industry. Is automotive ready for such a trend? Or is automotive retail absolutely and forever unique? 

At ADP Digital Marketing we have seen consumers buying directly through a dealer’s web site after we installed eCommerce features using our “My Account” capabilities.  Clearly more car buyers will discover how easy it is to buy a car as the shopping cart ecommerce model becomes more prevalent among dealership web sites.  I believe that both the DMS integrated and DMS agnostic hybrid approaches developed by ADP Digital Marketing will be around for a long time as a means to maximize results from a retail digital marketing strategy.

At ADP Digital Marketing we have a self-serving need to spread awareness that what is possible with dealer web sites has changed. But, this emerging auto retail capability is more important than just selling web sites.  There is a lot of vendor noise going on right now and it can be difficult to

separate the fact from fiction.  Many dealers don't really understand transactional web sites or what they are capable of, or they don't know who they can trust to give them the right guidance.   As a leader, it is your responsibility to ensure the profitability and competitiveness of your dealership.  By the mission’s very nature, you need to evaluate and try new things.  You must do your best to anticipate where your market is going and to get there first.  Not the bleeding edge, but the more profitable, (as Roy Busse says) unfair competitive advantage.