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Almost half of customers look at dealer finance when considering their next vehicle purchase online, according to iVendi’s new white paper.
Offering online motor finance is a key method of driving engagement for dealers, new research by iVendi shows.
It asked which funding options consumers considered ahead of their next vehicle purchase and easily the largest group – 47% – said they looked at motor finance from a dealer web site. They were followed by buying from savings at 40%, using a non-dealer online motor finance provider at 31%, banks loans at 26%, and a loan from friends or family at 12%.
The findings are taken from a new iVendi white paper, “Driving future success: Five key trends in online motor retail,” which questioned 1,000 recent vehicle buyers about their preferences.
Darren Sinclair, CCO at iVendi, said: “Some dealers understandably want to maintain the showroom’s status as the key touchpoint for consumers, and there is sometimes a perception that offering motor finance online discourages in-person visits.
“However, our experience – backed up by this new research – is that withholding motor finance from the retailer web site is almost always a negative. If consumers can’t find what they want online, they tend to leave and look elsewhere. Offering online motor finance drives engagement and increases sales.”
The research also asked respondents how they interacted with online motor finance tools offered by dealers, and the results were very supportive of the technology. The majority – 88% – felt communication with the dealer was made easier by such services, 66% said they used online motor finance tools to generate quotes, and 64% used online information and tools to research different motor finance products.
Darren added: “What online motor finance does is allow the consumer to progress the sale in their own time, and providing tools that make this possible – finance calculators, eligibility checkers and online applications – all creates momentum.
“Dealers offering consumers the means to progress and complete vehicle purchases create not only another sales channel alongside their showroom, but also a lower cost format with advantages such as greater consumer engagement and a potentially faster stock turnaround.
“In our experience, the best results for consumers, dealers and lenders come from offering a multi-lender online solution, allowing vehicle buyers to identify the best solution for them. This delivers choice and therefore drives engagement and compliance. Ultimately, it simply leads to more finance being sold.”
Download iVendi’s new white paper
A new free white paper from iVendi that drills down into the subjects covered in this interview can be found at https://www.ivendi.com/driving-future-success-am. Called “Driving future success: Five key trends in online vehicle retail”, it is essential reading for anyone involved in the sector.
About iVendi
Founded in 2009, iVendi is the market leader in connected motor retail technology, creating digital products that help consumers to buy vehicles and dealers to sell them more efficiently, both on online and in the showroom. iVendi technology interacts with around five million consumers every month and thousands of motor retailers, manufacturers and finance providers. The company is based in Colwyn Bay UK. More information can be found at ivendi.com.
For further information, contact the iVendi team on 0330 229 0028, email [email protected] or visit www.ivendi.com