From Digital Retailing to eCommerce: Maximizing Every Digital Transaction

Digital retailing is crucial for the automotive industry's future. If your dealership isn't offering digital retailing, you could be missing out on leads and profits.  But not every customer wants the same things from their online experience—they all want options. Our research shows that 9 of 10 customers prefer a flexible, personalized car buying experience. 

As consumers increasingly shop online, dealers must expand their digital retailing to stay competitive. 89% of franchise dealers added at least one digital step in 2020.¹ So if your competition down the road is already adopting digital retailing tools, you’re already missing out. 

Whether you are selling cars fully online as the industry bridges towards an eCommerce future or somewhere in between, we have technology at Cox Automotive to help you create a seamless online shopping experience for your consumers.  

DIGITAL RETAILING VS ECOMMERCE  

There is often confusion when people think about digital retailing and eCommerce. While most people might think they are the same thing, they are different. Digital retailing helps guide the overall experience for your shopper and saves time for both you and the consumer. Your customers can easily navigate and engage with your website during different stages of their purchasing journey.   

The digital retailing process is mostly supported by a member of your dealership staff. For example, the consumer starts the deal online and can take it to a credit app submission, sometimes even a credit decision, but at that point, dealership personnel will need to engage with the consumer to walk them through the deal. Digital retailing can help your dealership:  

• Increase exposure and reach 
• Give you the ability to turn vehicles quicker 
• Increase acquisition and inventory capabilities 
• Close deals faster – and more profitable deals
• Improve customer satisfaction – and referrals

eCommerce involves a fully digital transaction where the consumer begins the deal online. But the main differentiator is that consumers can complete their purchase steps at their own pace while working through the deal all the way through a digital sign for the vehicle to actual delivery to their front door. This fully digital transaction heavily involves automated F&I automation, not dealership staff. In fact, most dealerships have a sole eCommerce team focused on end-to-end digital transactions.

DEALER.COM DIGITAL RETAILING CAPABILITIES  

When it comes to digital retailing, Kelley Blue Book® My Wallet is the first digital retailing touchpoint consumers can have with your Dealer.com site. Dealers can integrate Kelley Blue Book My Wallet, an intuitive tool designed to improve the shopping to buying journey and drive more quality connections between buyers and sellers, directly on your website. My Wallet gives dealers access to everything from down payment, trade-in, and financing information – the data needed to speed up the deal-making process and get more accurate leads. 

1.1 MILLION VISITORS HAVE SYNCED THEIR MY WALLET PROFILE ON DEALER.COM

80% of consumers think it is a good or great idea to buy entirely online.³ And with Accelerate My Deal, consumers can complete even more steps online, speeding up the deal for everyone. When shoppers enter their information into Kelley Blue Book® My Wallet it’s automatically transferred into the Accelerate My Deal experience. Accelerate My Deal leads on average close at a 48% higher close rate compared to other internet leads helping dealers get more highly qualified leads and boost their profits.⁴ My Wallet gives shoppers a personalized shopping journey and Accelerate My Deal moves the shopper from journey to purchase. To learn more about Accelerate My Deal, check out this guide.  

DID YOU KNOW 70% OF SHOPPERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BUY FROM A DEALER IF THEY CAN START THE PROCESS ONLINE? ⁵ 

The new age of automotive retail is here, and consumers desire a streamlined, digital experience. So, to help you meet them where they are, it’s important to take a look at where you are.  

Whether you are slow to adopt digital retailing or at full-force adoption, there are still advantages. And step by step you can shift to the ecommerce future that’s already staring down dealers and pushing them in that direction.  

¹ 2020 Digitization of End-to-End Retail-Study 

² 1.1 million visitors sync their My Wallet profile 

³ 2022 Car Buying Journey Study  

⁴ Cox Automotive Product Analytics. Accelerate My Deal Lead to Close Analysis using VinSolutions sales data. Data from Jan 2020-Nov 2020. Analysis performed January 2021 

⁵ 2021 Car Buying Journey Study