Since launching Yewy, their new online marketplace, on the September long weekend, it’s been a busy couple of weeks for the people at Bruce Auto Group, who are based in Nova Scotia. The company was fortunate enough to have escaped most of the major damage from Fiona, and was able to embark on their virtual marketplace journey, which seems to be going well. Canadian auto dealer talked with Bruce Auto Group’s Executive VP JP Martel about the new platform and the process to get there.
Though not a product of the pandemic, Yewy (the informal name for a U-turn) was developed with the future of the industry in mind. “We had an idea that this is where the industry was going, that there was a need for this even prior to Covid,” said Martel. “But Covid definitely accelerated this. Because of Covid of course, we had to sort of adapt very quickly to customers’ needs, and we learned a lot from that.”
Yewy takes the dealership online store to the next level in a couple of ways, said Martel. “The difference would be that a customer through Yewy can purchase a vehicle from start to finish without even talking to somebody at the dealership.”
The omnichannel platform encompasses trade-ins, financing, and even warranties. But customers can talk to someone at the dealership at any step of the process. “When we talk about omnichannel, I think most people automatically think about a total online shopping or an online experience. But a customer could pick up a vehicle on Yewy, put it in the “garage”, add a few options like warranties, and then they could decide to do the paperwork and the delivery at the dealership, or at their home if they wanted to. So they could flip from one channel to the next at any time during the sales process.”
The company knows that the proof is really in the driving, so vehicles purchased on Yewy come with a seven-day, 500 kilometre warranty so buyers can be confident the car they are buying will perfectly meet their needs.
