Integrating Digital Retailing: Selling, Lead Generation and Trades – Laying the Groundwork

Read this blog entry in French.

You may find integrating solutions into your digital retailing process to be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be if you ask the right questions. When there are so many solutions available, it’s important to choose the right one for your store. In this series, EDealer VP of Sales Shane Hambly discusses some of the most important things to think about as you’re planning your digital transformation, in an easy-to-digest, ten-point checklist.

We’ve broken down Shane’s checklist into a longer series to help you assess the unique value propositions. By considering the variety in functionality, tools, and features, you can narrow down your options and determine the best fit. In this first part, we address two important questions: what is your end goal with digital retailing (sales or leads), and how will you handle online trades?

1. Sales or Leads
The first question to ask yourself is what you want to accomplish with digital retailing: sales or lead generation. You should base the answer on how you plan on integrating and changing your business process, and also take into consideration how you will save time and money for consumers.

If your answer is sales, you’re looking at tools that offer the customer the ability to purchase a car entirely online, with very little input from the dealership. But if you’re more interested in keeping the traditional sales process with an in-person transaction, the tools you’re looking at will be more customized to generate leads, so you can take advantage of online inquiries and then bring the consumer into the store.

2. Handling the trade
Consider how you want to handle a trade online. Many of these tools have integrated features that can give a range-based value to your trade. We’re seeing some wild fluctuations with used-car evaluations these days, so you need to consider how you can build trust and transparency with the consumer with an online trade. How can you get them to a number that they’re comfortable with without them coming into the dealership? One option is our very own Guaranteed Trade Tool. You can text the customer a link and they can shoot photos of their vehicle. You need to develop a process to handle these online trades so you can arrive at the right number you and your consumer are both comfortable with.

As you think about digital integration, you may need some time to assess the right answers to these questions. Consider your options and check back with us next week for Part Two, when we address two overlooked concerns with digital retailing: online deposits and lead generation.