Digitatally Enhanced Reality

From photography to computing, to the internet, virtual reality and now artificial intelligence, popular culture has a tendency to promote the idea that the virtual will replace the actual. That fear is often proven to be unfounded because the disruptive technology typically results in an improvement rather than a replacement.

Painters thought they’d be replaced by photography, scientists replaced by computers and brick and mortar retail replaced by online sales.

However, for all of the progress that the auto industry has made towards offering consumers a complete online transactional experience, it turns out that most of us are still old-school enough to prefer the tactile experience of a test drive. 

“Nearly all car buyers say the test drive is important (92%) in their buying process. Approximately 4-in-10 say by the time they walk into the dealership, they are ready for a test drive (39%). 

Consumers are not hoping for technology to replace the in person experience at the dealership, they’d prefer that the online experience improve the in-person experience by making it more convenient, transparent, and respectful of their time,

“While the car buying experience largely begins online, car buyers find the in-person process important. Car buyers begin by figuring out what they can afford (30%) and research to find the car they want to purchase (24%). More than half of car buyers expect to research information on vehicles (59%), make sure the price is fair (53%) and select the preferred make/model of the car they want (52%) online before going to the dealership. 

(However,) Nearly half of car buyers say the car buying experience has gotten more difficult in the past year (47%), up 20 points from the March 2022 Car Buying Outlook ”*

BDC United empowers dealerships to meet these consumer expectations and reverse the negative trend in customer sentiment by providing a seamless transition between their online and in-person experiences. BDC United values the informed customer and recognizes their desire to streamline the in-person process. Customers respond by eagerly agreeing to appointments that they anticipate will provide them with the test drive that they need to seel the deal without the increased difficulty in the process that they’d prefer to avoid

*https://www.capitalone.com/about/newsroom/car-buying-outlook-report-2023/