Opportunities to focus in and deliver improved performance in Aftersales

Closing off Q1, we saw broadly stable results across our KPIs, but we wanted to look back at how Q1 2024 compared to Q1 2023 and discuss what this can mean for the retail network and where new opportunities may exist.

In 2024 we have seen the average time spent per eVHC increase by 7.1% to 16.59 minutes per job, up from 15.48min in Q1 2023. However, this extra time spent isn’t translating into additional Red opportunities, with Red items being identified as part of the eVHC falling by 2.6%. In 2023, 54.2% of all eVHCs had one or more red items identified, in 2024 this has fallen to 52.8%.

The availability of newer used car stock will be influencing this, last year there was a rise in available used car stock aged between 0-3 years, following the challenging post covid period where used car stock was in short supply, these newer vehicles coming into circulation and subsequently back in for service will need fewer repairs. Retailers looking to maximise red work opportunities will find more opportunities as expected, in the older 4+ segments of vehicles

In Q1 2024 retailers have seen an increase in the average value per job, increasing by 1.9% to £308.42 per eVHC comparing against Q1 2023, with an average of £141.87 of that being converted successfully by the retailer.

This is equal to £127,945 being left unconverted in Q1 alone for an average retailer, a sizable opportunity for aftersales teams to focus on.

John Law, Executive Director, CitNOW Insights commented “Opportunities to focus in and deliver improved performance do exist. When breaking down the main repair segments there are opportunities for retailers to review their data and put action plans in place to improve conversions.

For example, conversions of red identified brakes across our data set range from some retailers performing at 31% conversion up to 71% for others, Tyres from 18% conversion up to 49% and even engine repairs varying from 41% conversion up to 74%.

By being able to see which segments you are poor at converting can lead to opportunities for training and support, or new KPIs being created to drive real focus on areas that have large revenue opportunities and margin.”

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