Digitalisation can enhance dealer revenues
New research that dealers are missing out on aftersales revenues by not offering customers access to an online booking service.
According to CitNOW, just 27 of the 100 leading dealers gave customers the option to book a vehicle service online and choose their preferred date and time. This percentage is even lower on mobile websites, with less than one in five (18%) of dealers allowing consumers to make a date-and-time specific service booking on this platform.
However, another study revealed that 44% of respondents wanted to be able to book a specific time and date for their vehicle service online.
Carol Fairchild, chief customer officer, CitNOW Group said: “There are simple steps that retailers can take to encourage the continuation of the customer journey from sales to aftersales, for example almost a third of retailers (30%) do not introduce their aftersales team to customers on the handover of their vehicle. However, our consumer survey shows that technology is the most important component for retaining customers in aftersales.”
Meanwhile, Alistair Jeff, commercial director for REALtime Communications, which is part of the CitNOW Group, added: “Industry reports show that a growing number of consumers are putting off vehicle servicing in response to the cost of living crisis, making it more crucial than ever for workshops to offer tools like Online Service Booking, providing consumers the functionality they want, and helping retailers to maximise all aftersales opportunities.”
