Research Overview

As more digitally native customers look to purchase a vehicle, industry players are ramping up digital enhancements in the customer journey relating to the purchase of new and used cars or in aftersales services. COVID-19-induced social distancing norms are changing "business as usual", acting as an accelerator for more dealerships, OEMs, and traders to explore aspects of an omnichannel system that can be automated or performed online. Most OEMs use a trial and error approach when introducing digitalized retail models, for instance, the various agency models being piloted in selected countries. A multinational end customer view to identifying the aspects of the journey the customer wants to have digitalized is an extremely powerful knowledge base.

This study captures the interest level and customer readiness for a digitalized retail and aftersales journey. With a quantitative research setup, the report includes findings from comprehensive customer research on 610 respondents from selected countries in Europe and GCC regions. It also analyzes how COVID-19 affects customer purchase processes. Besides identifying the key customer groups willing to purchase their next car online, the study also examines the essential elements of a digital customer journey and matches them with the end customer interest. This includes new customer journey concepts and customer feedback on used car sales or digital aftersales. While demand for digital aftersales enjoys higher interest and approval rates, 15% of customers are highly likely to consider an online car purchase. Frost & Sullivan has a dedicated automotive retail research team that tracks the multiple aspects of automotive retailing, including new vehicle sales, used vehicle sales, digital retailing, new store formats, dealer networks, and branding and customer journey.