Part 2, What happens when your virtual shop door to your showroom is opened?

Your website may be your online shop window for your vehicles but what happens when a consumer opens the digital door to your showroom and forecourt?

So, you’ve educated your marketing and digital partners on the intricacies of vehicle data and data flow and you’ve even managed to overcome the industry speak by humanising descriptions and highlighting a car’s exceptional features to make them even more appealing to buyers. But your work behind the scenes prior to your new website launch isn’t done.

Why isn’t that hot, in-demand little hatch your used car buyer plucked from the auction last week on the website? And what’s happened to the part-ex traded in last week that’s the perfect family saloon?

In fact, where the hell are they? On the transporter? Undergoing a PDI? Awaiting a part? You don’t need me to tell you that speed to market is an essential KPI but it will either take a few days pull spreadsheets together or a phone call to send someone at the dealership or PDI centre outside to look to find out.

The answer, though, could easily be at your fingertips but first you need another look backstage to understand the processes and systems that manage your vehicles from source to sale.

Then you need an interface (of course, we recommend ViHUB) that integrates the various pools of information and management operation systems which means you not only have compelling descriptions and images on hand but you know the car’s status so you can confidently market that vehicle even if it’s not yet on the physical forecourt or quickly identify and resolve the hold-up.

If you have a car yet to be marketed because there is friction in your business, a potential sale is easily lost. If a consumer is searching for a certain vehicle and it’s not on your website, they look elsewhere.

We’ve calculated that everyday your car is not marketed, it costs your business £69-£70.

Too many website projects are driven by marketers without enough input from the sales team which means issues around inventory are not acknowledged.

I bet if you ask most dealer marketing professionals to relay conversations they’ve had about inventory, it won’t be much beyond access to the used car stock feed irrespective of the quality of the data or the ability to identify and therefore overcome hiccups (awaiting a part, for example).

Address these at the time as part of your website update project before the window dressing takes place and your store both off and online will run more efficiently and profitably when a would-be buyer peeks inside.