i3 - January/February 2021 - 17

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strategy including a robust digital presence and direct-to-consumer sales
model cannot be understated. "
Additionally, " augmenting the car configuration tool also fits with the trend
of mass customization, " Koenig says. " Enhanced digital sales tools, digital
showrooms and online buying experiences portend a shift in the business
model for car sales. In the next 10 years most car sales will be online in VR
showrooms. Dealers will remain in play but will mostly provide last mile
delivery in the sale, " he says. " This is already starting to happen with services
like TrueCar and Carvana. Over time we'll see a greater separation of sales
and service. " Many shifting business models resulting from the pandemic will
remain in place post-crisis, he adds.
According to Cox Automotive - which owns the consumer-oriented
car research sites Kelley Blue Book (KBB) and Autotrader as well as supplies the software and services necessary for automobile dealers to run
their businesses, and engages in consumer research - time consumers
spent searching online has continued to grow, shoppers are visiting fewer
dealers, and third-party websites like KBB, Autotrader, cars.com and
C TA . t e c h / i 3

i3_0121_16-19_Feature_ConnectedCars.indd 17

edmunds.com are the biggest draw for
new car shoppers.
Cox's 2020 Car Buyer Journey (CBJ)
study says car shoppers spend 64% of time
searching online (about 9.5 hours) and
roughly 20% of their time with a dealer on
the purchase (two hours and 50 minutes),
and the remainder researching other dealerships or offline. In 2019, the CBJ pegged
the online component at 61%.
The Cox 2020 CBJ report also finds that
car shoppers are now spending less time
engaged in the process than three years
ago - 89 days " in market " this year versus
118 days in 2017. It attributes the decline
to getting information and making decisions faster. When looking to purchase a
new car (excluding used car sales), many
are using third-party sites (66%), followed
by dealer websites (50%) and automaker
websites (41%), the 2020 CBJ says.
Nevertheless, recent car shoppers say
what they're doing online still isn't enough.
While 46% of them who shopped during
the pandemic completed more steps
online than in the past, 68% expressed a
desire to do even more purchase steps
online, compared to the last time they
bought a vehicle, the 2020 CBJ shows.
These steps include configuring a vehicle,
determining the purchase price for the
new car and the trade-in value of a currently owned car, as well as financing.
Amidst the pandemic, Cox debuted new
dealer-focused services that enable consumers to shop from home more efficiently
- letting dealers offer virtual video walkarounds of vehicles (through video chats)
and arrange at-home test drives and deliveries of new cars to homes. By October
there were 13,000 dealers using the services nationwide.
In turn, dealers received 328% more
" deals submitted " online in the first nine
months of 2020, compared with the same
period in 2019, Cox says.
Cost, quality and performance of cars
traditionally are the basis of competition
in the auto industry, but today all of that
is secondary to brand and experience
engagement, " and that means technology, " declares Omar Hoda, principal in
the automotive sector of Deloitte
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12/9/20 3:16 PM

http://www.edmunds.com https://www.coxautoinc.com/ https://www.coxautoinc.com/ https://bit.ly/3oWUEW7 http://www.cars.com https://cta.tech/Resources/i3

i3 - January/February 2021

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