Online aftersales remains an afterthought – research shows
New research from GForces has identified that the majority of leading franchised dealers in the UK are failing to take simple steps to help drive their aftersales revenues, giving vital ground to fast-fits and independents.
Analysis of the websites of the UK’s biggest 200 car dealers (by turnover) revealed that only a small minority are using simple online booking and payment tools to facilitate sales of parts and vehicle servicing to potential customers.
Just 19 of the top 200 UK dealers (9.5 per cent) currently enable customers to book in a car for service via their website, and only 12 (6 per cent) use their website to promote service plans to help customers spread the cost of car servicing.
Dealers are similarly reactionary when it comes to ecommerce. Only 12 (6 per cent) provide the facility to purchase tyres online – an area where fast-fits dominate and successfully cross-sell other services – and less than a third (62 dealers; equivalent to 31 per cent of the top 200) have websites with an online shop where customers can purchase vehicle parts and accessories.
Although the GForces analysis indicates that the leading UK dealers could be losing out to the more progressive fast-fits and independent dealers, the trend is an improving one. GForces conducted the same evaluation in March 2012 and found that the results were even lower. For example, the 19 dealers now offering online service booking is more than double the number (seven dealers, 3.5% of the top 200) that were offering the facility back in March.
The improvement is even starker for online tyre sales. While the 12 dealers selling tyres online now is a very small proportion of the UK’s top 200, in March there were none with this facility. By contrast, the trend for sales of parts and accessories online has flat-lined – just one additional dealer has started an online shop since March.
“Aftersales is critically important for UK dealers, providing around 80% of dealer profits, as well as providing the platform for driving customer satisfaction and loyalty,” comments Tim Smith, Commercial Director at GForces. “Over 62% of Britons now shop online, but most will be disappointed if they expect to transact on a car dealer’s website. Set in the context of research by the ASE that shows overhead absorption rates are falling this year – potentially dropping as low as 50% – the requirement to maximise aftersales revenues is greater than ever.”
Smith concluded, “Implementing a proper aftersales web strategy can have a dramatic impact. We’ve seen customers that have introduced online service bookings increase take-up by over 500%.”