Read this blog post in French.
In our previous instalment of this series, we touched on some legal aspects that help protect you against fraud. We continue with the subject of fraud protection in our fourth post, plus some tips about handling the last step in the business transaction: vehicle deliveries. A constant theme you may have noticed in our Integrating Digital Retailing series is managing customers’ expectations. Read on below for some tips.
7. Vehicle deliveries
At the dealership, clients usually have the choice of driving away in their new car after finishing the deal. But when you move your sales process online, how will they actually receive their new vehicle? It’s a good idea to consider the customer’s expectations. Will they expect you to bring it to their house? If so, would they be okay with you driving it there and putting miles on their new car, or would you transport it on a flatbed? For used cars, customers’ expectations are more flexible. For new units, it’s a bit more challenging.
Build a policy to address vehicle delivery that keeps the customer’s needs in mind. You should also think about how you will handle a seven-day return policy. These days, a seven-day return policy and a process to handle that policy are the expectations and norms for companies involved in digital retailing.
8. Fraud prevention
With ecommerce, it’s important to protect yourself from fraud, as it is more prevalent online than in physical retail. Fraud protection is especially important for high-end and imported cars. A major question to ask yourself as you build your online sales process is: What are we putting in place to limit the risk of fraudulent selling? Consider the location of your clients. You may find yourself in a situation where, say, your dealership is in London, Ontario, and a customer contacts you from Vancouver. You’ll want to watch for red flags, especially if they are very insistent the entire transaction takes place online. If your alarm bells are ringing, you’ll want to outline a process to deal with such leads. Build your fraud detection program so that you can feel comfortable doing online deals.
As we’re getting close to the end of our blog series, we hope you’ve learned how to think about digital integration comprehensively so you don’t miss any steps. Next week, we’ll talk about staff allocation and your digital showroom.
Read previous posts in the Integrating Digital Retailing series:
Part 1: Selling, Lead Generation, and Trades – Laying the Groundwork
Part 2: Get a handle on deposits and lead duplication
Part 3: Take care of existing customers and the legal red ink
