The Emerging Role of AI in Car Retailing in 2024

Enhancing productivity and the customer experience 

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has been around for a while now, with tools such as Alexa and Siri and voice command navigation technology in cars used daily by many people. Increasingly, the retail motor industry is looking at the potential of the technology to enhance their proposition and operating models. 

CitNOW Group aims to be at the forefront in leading the use of AI applications and tools. In 2024, dealers can expect to benefit from a series of AI product innovations designed to support sales and aftersales. In fact, many dealers are already using CitNOW Group AI technology through the Group’s Auto Imaging business, where AI imagery, quality control & real-time feedback are well established.   

In 2024, Auto Imaging’s AI capabilities will accelerate further, taking time out of the video process for new and used cars and allowing potential customers to see vehicles in greater detail than ever, with key external and interior features highlighted. Bringing this detail to life will be available to customers 24/7.  

This additional visualisation available through Auto Imaging’s new technology may give some customers everything they need to make a purchase decision. However, for many more, we expect it to be an imaginative addition that will enhance a customer’s journey and dealer perception, helping to take their interest in a car and dealer into affirmative action.  

As well as exploring the potential uses for AI technology, we will continue to de-mystify and share insights on the practical applications we see emerging for car retailing and aftersales in the coming year.  

The immediate opportunities we see across our brand ecosystem are taking time out of repetitive processes, providing an additional communication platform to enhance the customer experience, capturing additional customer data, and improving car inspection and repair experiences. In short, the immediate opportunities lie in improved productivity, greater process consistency and, crucially, the chance to enhance the customer experience and ownership journey. 

The potential for a car to be sold entirely by AI is feasible, but an online-only purchase journey is already possible today. What has been learned through the increase in digital tools for car retailers and buyers is that for many buyers, the omnichannel experience is most valued. AI can help to improve the experience, particularly for buyers most comfortable with technology. However, for many others, it will be a complementary tool that increases the value of face-to-face dialogue. 

Auto Imaging’s new AI capabilities are exciting; the prospect of greater efficiency and an enhanced customer experience available 24/7 is compelling. We welcome the opportunity to discuss its use and positive impact, and as per our belief in an omnichannel, we are still delighted to talk about it face to face.

To find out more about how CitNOW Group can support you in the year ahead, contact us today. 

It’s Time to Discover and Realise the Opportunities in 2024

The realities of the prevailing trading environment cannot be ignored; however, it is every bit as important to identify and realise the opportunities that exist to create success. Into and throughout 2024, CitNOW Group’s growing ecosystem of innovative technology, business culture, people and resources is committed to realising greater success for our retailer and OEM partners. 

In this latest blog, we will explore some of the potential opportunities in 2024 and how CitNOW Group can help.  

Productivity, quality and increased customer engagement – a new role for AI in car sales 

Leading car aggregators highlight the importance of well-shot, clear images that bring every car to life continuously as a way of making a retailer’s stock stand out from the crowd. However, it can be labour–intensive. Our Auto Imaging platform creates compelling still and video imagery, automating many traditional processes and adding new capabilities, including retailer branding and the capacity to populate image slots on car aggregation platforms automatically. All of this can be done with just an app on a mobile device and a tripod, and it is very effective. In the UK, dealers achieved significant success using Auto Imaging – a 74% increase in website visits last year. 

AI has featured significantly as part of the existing intelligent Quality Control (QC) processes within the Auto Imaging platform. 2024 will see a series of exciting new features and innovations that leverage AI to further enhance productivity, quality control and customer engagement. 

New car & van sales – achieving the ZEV mix 

This year, the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate requires that 22% of new sales sold are, as the Mandate name suggests, zero-emission, so in essence, Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs). It will see OEMs charged £15,000 per non-compliant car sold for missing the target. For vans, the fine is £9,000 in 2024, rising to £18,000 after that.  

For OEMs who may struggle to achieve the 22% target, it is likely to have a significant impact for them and their retailers, and those OEMs can be expected to control their retailers’ distribution of new stock more carefully. In the spirit of teamwork, retailers can help themselves and their OEM partners by having a greater insight into their sales activity down to sales executive level and embracing stock turn and business pipeline/sales enquiries. 

The granular and benchmarking information RTC Insights provides can help dealer leadership to monitor sales reactively, plan sales tactics proactively, help identify best practices, guide training plans, and support pricing and stock turn management. It is an insight that is likely to be valuable for any OEM brand that may struggle to achieve the 22% threshold.  

Utilising digital communication tools like CitNOW Sales could also be beneficial when engaging with customers and helping to increase their awareness and understanding of BEVs, video explainers, thorough walkarounds and clear explanations of the advantages of a BEV whilst dispelling any initial resistance could have a positive impact on meeting these targets.  

Lead management process and control

With its drive to support retailer efficiency last year, CitNOW Group’s sales and enquiry management solution powered by Dealerweb captured over 2m leads across national and regional retailer groups, single franchise, and independents. 

Last year, retailers using Dealerweb saw 30% more enquiries than in 2022, and 1/3 of all enquiries, new and used, resulted in an order. Effective lead management ensures quality customer experiences. Customers expect swift responses, with a quarter anticipating answers within 30 minutes on the same communication channel they initiated communication with the dealership. Technology such as Dealerweb Showroom streamline sales operations and thus improving efficiency, delivering seamless customer journeys and enhanced experiences. 

Moving into 2024 Dealerweb Showroom customers will be able to take advantage of a new feature, Equicalc. It is an equity calculator enabling retailers to interrogate their DMS and identify when customers who took out finance might be back in the market for their next car. This information allows retailers to target customers with bespoke offers and initiate conversations about changing cars helping to boost prospecting activity and retain customer loyalty. 

Aftersales – Driving Conversions is a Significant Opportunity

70% of retailers believe their aftersales teams miss out on chances to maximise all revenue opportunities. CitNOW Group’s RTC Insight analysts revealed that from missed red work alone, retailers lost £170K pa income per rooftop.  

When converting identified work in aftersales, nothing is more compelling than the power of video. To put this in context, our latest data from CitNOW reveals that 68% of work was authorised in under 30 minutes after the customer saw a video that clearly showed the need for a repair. 

CitNOW’s app-based video solutions for retailers are motor industry-specific and backed up by digital impact dashboards. Last year, UK retailers made 12.9M videos using CitNOW. They are effective because they provide a highly transparent, credible and easily accessed first-person experience. If something dangerous about a car has been identified, the customer can see it for themselves; it is highly compelling. 

Consumer confidence – creating engaged conversations

Building consumer confidence is the most important bridge to cross in creating sales. In today’s omnichannel world, a communication tool that supports and complements the showroom experience can provide dealers with a compelling edge. 

In 2024, CitNOW will launch CitNOW Conversations. Already highly valued by in Europe, CitNOW Conversations will make it even easier for retailers to communicate seamlessly with customers and potential customers on the messaging channels that they prefer from one central platform, 24×7. 

It is already driving more service bookings, streamlining workshop communications and increasing productivity and in sales, it makes it easier for customers to start the conversation, enables leads to be pre-qualified and speeds up the sales process with multichannel communication and automation. In the year ahead, these conversations and their value can only grow. 

Discover the CitNOW Group ecosystem

CitNOW Group is not a single solution. It is an ecosystem that can be tailored to a retailer’s needs, all with the promise of continuous development and improvement.

To find out more about how CitNOW Group can support you in the year ahead, contact us today. 

Happily ever aftersales: maximising revenue opportunities

Aftersales is a revenue opportunity for dealerships that isn’t being explored as much as it could or should be. Recent research conducted by the CitNOW Group has found that 70% of retailers feel their aftersales teams could be doing more to maximise their revenue. 

Now is as good a time as any to identify performance gaps in aftersales and find easy and quick ways to maximise revenue. Ongoing changes around electrification, challenges in recruiting and retaining skilled technicians, and the rising cost of living are all having an effect. In this blog, we’ll highlight some of the best ways to ensure your aftersales operations are reaching their full potential, based on findings from our own data and trend analysis.

Retailer opportunities for innovation and change 

Our research has found that there are three particularly pressing challenges in automotive retail right now:

• Technician resource: research by the Institute of the Motor Industry has found that there could be as many as 160,000 vacancies across the sector by 2031, and that 16% of these would be for vehicle technicians. That’s why it’s so important to maximise existing technician resource and minimise wasted time.
   
• Consumer spending: amid the rising cost-of-living customers are naturally becoming more conscious and cautious about their expenditure. For example, Nationwide Building Society research has found that almost half of consumers have put off repairs to their cars because of pressures on their finances.
   
• Business overheads: the cost of doing business has gone up, from equipment purchasing to energy prices and everything in between. The pressures this puts on budgets across a retailer’s operation makes it harder to find the money to invest in staff training, stock and infrastructure.

It’s for these reasons that many retailers – as our recent research and trend analysis has uncovered – are evaluating changes they can make. They’re exploring innovative ways to increase revenue and customer retention, including optimising technician and advisor time; proactively encouraging regular maintenance appointments; and using technology to drive efficiencies for the aftersales team. 

Small changes, making a big difference 

To underline the difference that these changes can make, our recent research looked into aftersales data to see how some retailers have been standing out with exceptional performance.  

The best-performing retailers have found substantial gains in conversion rates of red repair work improving conversion by 11% quarter on quarter during 2023, to an average conversion of 62.7%.  Similarly, they have also improved technician utilisation rates, where technicians are able to get more jobs done each working day. The top-performing locations improved their technician utilisation from 84% to 92% on average in just 12 months: for an average retailer, this means completing up to 377 more jobs per workshop, per year. 

All of this makes a material difference to the bottom line, and if the average retailer were to perform at these levels, could mean an estimated extra £124,825 in service and red work opportunities. 

Unlocking success: How top performers achieved results 

How were these retailers able to generate such huge savings and efficiencies in practice? Consistently delivering superb aftersales performance starts with technology and using the solutions at your disposal to the best possible effect. Three practical and effective ways that we recommend include: 

• Benchmarking: using solutions like REALinsights to evaluate current performance allows you to understand where there are challenges and opportunities to focus on. That way, you can measure your operation against other retailers in your dealer group – as well as wider industry averages – and give yourself realistic goals to work towards.
   
• Monitoring: establishing standards and objectives for aftersales teams and staff can both clarify responsibilities and boost performance. CitNOW Workshop and RTC can help here by tracking eVHC completion rates (connected to the corresponding video) so that time spent per vehicle can be analysed.  

The same principle can also be applied to sales advisors and pinpointing when they should contact customers for the best chances of success. For example, we’ve found contacting customers on Mondays results in a 31% conversion rate, against just 19% on Thursdays. It’s also important to record decline reasons accurately, helping with training and business proposals, and to take advantage of upselling opportunities.   

• Utilisation tracking: working out technician throughput rates allows you to fill in any gaps and maximise their productivity. The starting point of this process is to ensure systems, data and processes are integrated (such as scheduling, part pricing and tyre costs); assign tasks to technicians based on skills and experience; and put the right lines of internal and external communications in place. 

In summary

It’s vital to set realistic targets for improving your aftersales, and that starts with  understanding your current performance levels in relation to market conditions. Based on this analysis, you can then take practical steps to enhance aftersales revenue through team controls for monitoring, efficient work allocation systems and effective communication. 

To find out how technology enables these changes, and how you can seamlessly join the dots from performance to revenue, explore CitNOW Group solutions in more detail here.