Online Car Buying and Automated Service for a New Generation

Over the last  few years, we have seen  society grow into a world that revolves around digital technology, where it’s becoming increasingly common to buy things online. The new generations, those who were raised surrounded by all this innovation, are the main promoters of this trend and they are the ones who in the future will encourage more people to make online purchases.

Although the e-commerce industry has not gained as much popularity in Latin America compared to other countries like the US, the UK, South Korea or China, where sales generated by e-commerce are valuated in the hundreds of billions of dollars, according to a report by Statista, the e-commerce industry in Latin America is following the same trend of growth seen around the world.

It has been reported that Latin America is home to 300 million online buyers, a number that is expected to grow 20% by 2025; at the same time, in 2022, Brazil and Mexico were the countries from the region that represented the biggest market share for e-commerce sales.

I think all of us have purchased something from the internet, and in our social circle, it’s becoming more common to see someone buying a product through an online solution. Many industries are making changes to adapt to this new reality, and one of those interested in evolving is the automotive industry.

The Car-uying Experience Is Evolving

To know how the online car buying experience is going to impact Latin America in the upcoming years, we have to look into how the industry has evolved in countries like the US and the rest of the world. According to predictions published in a report by Research and Markets, by 2021 the online car buying market around the world had a valuation of US$261.2 billions, and it’s estimated that this trend of growth will continue in the upcoming years with a CAGR of 11.60%, reaching a valuation of US$515.6 billion by 2027.

In the US, the COVID-19 pandemic became a catalyst for the acceleration of online car purchases, similarly to  what happened in other sectors. A report by ABC News highlighted that around 30% of all vehicle purchases in 2021 were made online; at the same time, auto dealerships reported an increment in sales that year compared to 2020.

Pre-owned car sales platforms like Carvana and Vroom also saw a major increase in popularity along with the boom in sales of the industry caused by the pandemic; likewise, companies like Tesla and Rivian have been exploring and leading online car sales compared to other major brands. These and other factors have been the promoters of this trend among major car manufacturers and dealerships globally.

We know that the focus on an online sales model requires a change in how we provide customer service to our customers, taking into consideration the importance of providing them a user-friendly experience and a quick response to their questions. Automation plays a major role when we want to serve a big number of leads, and it's a powerful tool that the industry should take into account.

Automated Customer Service in e-Commerce

It’s a certainty that how we provide customer service could make the difference between a satisfied customer and a lost sales opportunity. Old-school buyers believe that the car buying experience should be a personal and face-to-face interaction with a salesperson. Part of innovating this process is to think about how we can offer a similar experience while we automate the process in order to address the big number of leads that we are getting when we apply a digital marketing strategy.

Among the changing aspects and growing trends for the e-commerce industry  in 2022, shared by Shopify, we can highlight that it’s almost a certainty that we are going to see a mix of communication channels  as part of the strategies applied to boost online sales.

It makes sense that a personal experience like buying a car is going to be heavily related to instant messaging apps like WhatsApp, taking into account the personal interaction between parties that is associated with these types of channels, which represent an approach to simulate that face-to-ace experience that is common among a part of the automotive industry.

How Virtual Assistants Are Transforming the Online Car-Buying Experience

By applying a multichannel marketing strategy, it is pertinent to consider how we are going to manage all those interactions and leads in one place. At the same time, we also need to consider how we are going to provide effective customer service, paired with quick responses, to all those conversations.

At Krino, we are focused on helping other companies to enhance their digital sales process by implementing virtual assistants in their messaging channels. By doing that, we have helped teams reduce up to 80% their investment of time spent on low-value tasks, enhancing their lead qualification process and how those leads transform into potential buyers.

We are currently working with one of our automotive industry clients to provide automated responses to all those leads that show interest in a vehicle from advertisement campaigns on Facebook and Instagram, making it easier to recontact them and  establish their qualifications as potential buyers.

We believe that automation in customer service is the next step that will transform the performance of the automotive industry in the digital world, and we are working to be part of this major change in this and other industries. 

References

El sector del comercio electrónico en América Latina - Statista

Global Ecommerce Explained: Stats and Trends to Watch - Shopify

Online Car Buying Market - Research and Markets