Click image to view it in full size

As more and more digitally native customers look to purchase a vehicle, the competition and business models to sell used vehicles online increases. With social distancing norms changing ‘business as usual’, COVID-19 acts as an accelerator for more dealerships, OEMs, and traders to sell online.

There are multiple online used vehicle retail models ranging from peer-to-peer listing services, aggregator listing, and bricks-and-clicks marketplace, not to mention the eCommerce participants who are eager to make a big splash themselves, broker marketplace, and 100% online retail models.

Each of these market segments represent a different customer journey and remain valid in their own right. However, Frost & Sullivan’s analysis identifies the preferred up-scale segments of broker marketplaces and 100% online retail models as among the most looked at by retail customers. In the expected declining economic conditions, there is a likelihood of increased demand for used vehicles, as customers look for alternatives to purchasing brand new ones. Across the region, a host of start-ups are pioneering and consistently tweaking their route-to-customer to ensure a seamless service, with the highest priority on trust and price assurance. The interest to invest in such services from external companies, mainly financial/investment firms, has also seen considerable activity in recent months. The used car marketplace is multi-dimensional, with brokers, auction firms, dealers, direct sellers, and online price and demand assessors, along with the trends of electrification and regulatory pressures that are forcing the retail segment to be on its toes all the time. The need for the right partners to enable a viable trading platform and to perform follow-through services of refurbishment, logistics, and others is a vital factor that helps these companies keep a tab on their costs.