(Sponsored by SpinCar)
The physical lot experience has long been considered king in all vehicle sales. However, this axiom doesn’t fully reflect current consumer habits. Visits to dealership websites dwarf showroom walk-ups, with website traffic up to 20 times higher than on-premise visits. Shoppers now spend upwards of 80 percent of the buying process online, which means the digital experience is now the core of the buying journey. This digital disruption will continue to accelerate. RV sellers need to invest in digital-first strategies that build engaging virtual experiences at every stage of the shopping process.
No More Spray and Pray
The prevalence of online shopping, the wealth of information available to consumers and the rise of 3rd party listing sites means RV sellers must focus relentlessly on competitiveness and efficiency. “Spray and pray” spending on upper-funnel advertising mostly results in hundreds of thousands of dollars in poorly-targeted marketing in channels that provide little to no data. That means wasted time on low-value lead chasing – and less resources against high-potential leads that are flying under the radar because the dealership can’t distinguish between casual visitors and active buyers.
However, a dealership’s website and digital channels can be a treasure trove of shopper data that can increase business effectiveness and cost-efficiency.
A new approach
Unleashing the power of digital channels necessitates new strategies for RV retailers:
- Become digital-first. The dealer website is the primary showroom, and the dealer’s best salesperson. Dealerships should be placing as much emphasis on maximizing the online shopper experience as they do on optimizing their physical lot.
- Make it personal. Consumers prize personalization. Generic VDPs, cookie-cutter lead responses and impersonal digital ads are no longer effective and come across as wallpaper. Uninformed lead follow-up calls or a failure to follow up on leads in a timely fashion reflect poorly on a dealership.
- Provide a seamless experience. Shopper insights need to flow effortlessly between the website, digital channels and sales agents. Every interaction and touchpoint should proactively reflect the shopper’s interests and preferences.
Fortunately, RV sellers have the methods at their fingertips to transform their buying journey into a personalized, engaging experience.
Why Digital Engagement Matters
If prospective buyers can get a 360° view of a $99 pair of eyeglasses, surely they expect more engagement from a high-ticket item like an RV!
Great digital merchandising creates multiple opportunities for shopper engagement – and engagement is a better purchase indicator than lead submissions since only 24% of actual buyers complete a lead form. Digital engagement matters, and a dealer’s virtual showroom is the core driver of lead conversion and purchase rates.
Use Digital Merchandising to Maximize Shopper Engagement
A digital-first focus on engagement means not just more sales conversions, but also more actionable shopper insights. RV sellers should consider the following best practices:
- Imagery. Ensure 100% photo coverage of all available inventory with high-quality VIN-specific imagery, using repeatable image capture processes and tools.
- Immersion. Deliver 360° walkarounds, panoramic imaging, video merchandising and more. Empower the consumer to explore and experience the motorized or towable RV online.
- Information. Incorporate rich multimedia content that explains RV features and technology intuitively and visually in a way shoppers can understand without the need to leave the dealer site to do additional research.
Digital merchandising matters. It drives engagement and a better shopper experience while also generating powerful first-party behavioral insights.
Better Engagement Means Better First-Party Data (and more sales)
Dealers can access and activate first-hand behavioral insights at every touchpoint to improve everything from their virtual showroom experience to inventory decisions, the physical lot and dealership operations:
- Personalization. Behavioral insights can inform the dealer about specific shopper preferences, feature interests, cross-vehicle comparisons and more. Smart sellers can capitalize on this data to personalize follow-ups and communications over phone, email, text, messaging, and in person.
- Conquesting. Sellers can use shopper data to develop lookalike prospect audiences, which they can target with more relevant marketing efforts.
- Fixed Ops. By correlating engagement, purchase, trade-in and retargeting data, dealerships can develop targeted service offers and promotion campaigns.
- Inventory. By aggregating behavioral data, dealerships can better understand the key vehicle features and conditions that contribute to fast- and slow-moving inventory. They can then adjust inventory prioritization and purchasing decisions accordingly.
Improving the Experience Everywhere
RV sellers can leverage first-hand shopper data to continuously improve the engagement and effectiveness of every online and offline consumer touchpoint.
For example, dealers can improve their internet lead response time and quality by leveraging conversational AI and digital merchandising tools that integrate with shopper data and inventory feeds, customizing automated responses based on the prospective buyer’s interests. The AI helps move leads along the process until they’re ready to buy or interact with a sales agent. This frees up a dealership’s internet and sales personnel to focus on nurturing active high-value leads and other strategic activities. And arming sales agents with this data on their devices ensures a better customer experience by increasing the personalization of every call, email, text or appointment.
The Virtuous Engagement Cycle
Digital is not just another channel – it’s the place where shopping takes place, and digital merchandising is critical to winning consumers’ hearts and minds. Digital engagement generates shopper data that enables personalization across all dealership channels. These personalized experiences drive even deeper engagement which drives greater sales.