Canadian auto dealer introduces a new column on retail engagement, which will chronicle the ways that digital tools such as digital signage, interactive digital experiences, and new in-store technology are helping the automotive industry provide a more robust and modern retail experience
At a recent industry conference, I was struck by one of the speakers from outside the automotive industry who described automotive dealerships as “digital deserts” mostly devoid of any digital experiences, whether that was digital signage, video and other interactive tools customers have come to expect from their other online and retail experiences.
That lack of in-store digital experience is one of the reasons we launched UniversusDX as a standalone operation that focuses solely on ensuring automotive retailers have access to the best strategy, thinking and technology required to close the digital divide that occurs once customers enter your stores.
Car dealerships are unique environments, and some digital strategies won’t work the same way as they do in other retail industries.
While the dealership still needs to grab a visitor’s attention, by the time they are inside the store they are either already a customer — in sales or service — or they are in one of the 1.6 dealerships customers now visit before buying a vehicle. This requires a different conversation than the content in the marketing materials that brought them into the store.
Because dealerships are also really several different businesses operating in one retail location, the digital experiences need to reflect that. Messaging from new vehicle sales is different than that in pre-owned, the F&I office, parts and accessories and service, and yet it still needs to be cohesive, connected and on brand with the OEM messaging.
While none of this is super easy to pull off — nor is it extraordinarily hard — particularly if you understand how to produce engaging content and how to apply it within the automotive retail landscape.
But far too often when it comes to discussions about setting up digital experience strategies for dealerships, people involved get bogged down by fears about content getting out of date, costs of acquiring content or the complexity of integrating and managing all the technology.
It’s important to remember it’s never about the technology. It’s always about the strategy. Content and implementation follows, as does measuring the impact of the chosen approach. An approach that involves constantly updated digital content that can be engaging, tactical and measurable has a lot of appeal for dealers and OEMs alike.
It’s important to remember it’s never about the technology. It’s always about the strategy. Content and implementation follows, as does measuring the impact of the chosen approach.
Moving to things like digital signage and touchscreen kiosks offers instant updates to ensure materials are up-to-date, and frankly a degree of control and tactical effectiveness that traditional printed point-of-purchase and similar materials just can’t have.
With digital signage and kiosk-based materials in-store, now you can tailor messages to a specific time of day, week, and adjust them on the fly to put up things like daily specials up on your screens, and even changing the menu boards behind your advisor counter to really highlight the offers you want to drive attention to.
Using technology like geofencing, we can understand how many customers are in your store, when they are there, for how long, and if specific customers have been there before. Individualized offers can be pushed to a specific customer’s mobile phone. Dealership staff can be alerted when a specific customer is in the dealership.
Digital experiences are also something that OEMs are more eager to help fund and support for their dealership partners. They recognize that if they are insisting on a true omni-channel experience with consistent brand messaging for customers online and in-store, that they need to help bring these experiences to life.
At the same time, dealerships recognize that their biggest competitor is often another dealership of the same brand that is nearby, so they want to be able to customize the digital experiences to ensure their dealership’s personality is captured.
Next-generation digital signage and other technologies are well suited to bring all of that to life, and increasingly at a cost-effective price.
In future columns, we will touch on many of the trends, strategies, best practices and the technologies that are starting to transform the auto retail experience — and for the better. We will explore topics like brand compliance, future-proofing your facility for digital experiences, content strategies, measurement and analytics, hardware and technology, and pricing models.
I look forward to hearing from readers about your positive — or negative — previous experiences with digital signage and digital experiences in your dealerships, or any interesting retail experiences you might have come across. Please send any comments my way and I’ll be happy to respond.
