High digital dealerships carry out twice as excessive as laggards in on-line expertise

Vertu Motors, Group 1 Automotive, and Lookers lead the automotive retail sector in offering a seamless end-to-end on-line buyer journey for brand spanking new automotive purchases, in response to a brand new research.

Expertise consultancy BearingPoint’s UK Automotive Retail: Digital Gross sales Maturity 2025 research assessed retailers on 17 steps throughout the digital gross sales journey from pre-sales, gross sales to handover phases with a scoring system starting from 0 (lowest) to three (highest), resulting in a most rating of 51.

The research discovered that Vertu’s benchmark rating was twice that of the lowest-scoring retailer, highlighting appreciable disparities in digital funding and buyer expertise throughout the sector.

One such instance is on-line check drive reserving, the place solely 27% of evaluated retailers allowed clients to schedule a particular time, and only one retailer enabled bookings at house or work.

Equally, automobile drop-off companies diversified considerably, with solely a handful of main retailers successfully integrating digital and bodily processes for a low-effort, personalised buyer expertise.

Emile Naus, automotive accomplice at BearingPoint, said: “There may be appreciable variance in how main automotive retailers are utilizing and investing within the on-line channel. This presents a serious alternative for a lot of retailers to introduce new capabilities that may considerably improve the client expertise all through the gross sales journey.”

Key findings reveal that Vertu Motors excels in handovers with a extremely mature course of that features customisable drop-off areas and scheduled supply slots.

Lookers in the meantime leads in gross sales, providing seamless on-line inventory automobile purchases together with a transparent cancellation and returns coverage.

The research discovered that the gross sales part reveals the best variability on account of variations in on-line buying choices, with some retailers requiring direct contact whereas others provide full on-line transactions, together with financing and credibility checks.

Supply is a standout power, with 82% of outlets permitting clients to pick out supply timeslots on-line, making this the one part the place retailers outperform OEM direct channels.

Financing stays a problem. Whereas most retailers provide on-line financing and leasing choices, practically half (45%) don’t allow clients to finish the method digitally.

Pre-sales emerged as the weakest part. Single-brand retailers carry out higher on account of simpler configuration capabilities, however many nonetheless provide solely fundamental info and check drive reserving.

Jonny Stephens, automotive senior supervisor at BearingPoint, stated: “Automotive retailers are navigating advanced macro traits, however the digital channel must be a strategic lever to assist deal with these challenges. Retailers ought to reassess their digital expertise in keeping with their broader technique, making certain they leverage digital instruments to spice up EV gross sales, streamline prices by automation, or create a best-in-class buyer journey.”