Transformation of the Consumer Mindset

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The mindset of consumers has changed significantly over the last few years. While in the past, shoppers were mostly concerned with finding the cheapest price for units and services, their preferences are shifting toward greater value, personalized experiences and overall convenience. In this article, we’ll explore the reasons why the consumer mindset has shifted and how forward-thinking dealers can adapt.

Reason #1: The New Digital Landscape

Consumer demand is constant, especially now that fulfillment is just a few clicks away. Regardless if businesses are experiencing supply chain disruptions, inflation, staffing shortages and more, they are still expected to offer 24/7 digital processes to satisfy the expectations of their customers. These processes include offering options to buy online and pick up in-store, improving digital customer service and providing a more personalized experience for online users. This transition toward digital processes not only meets the ongoing consumer demand, but also enhances the overall customer experience in the digital age.

While many brands once expected these new behaviors and increased digitization to drop off overtime and return to a “normal” state of affairs, these digital trends have continued. According to McKinsey & Company, some 92% of shoppers who started buying online since 2019 have stuck to their digital habits. Consumers have found the ability to shop anytime and anywhere to be extremely appealing, and they’re pushing for brands to align with their new preferences.

Greater Freedom of Choice

With the rise of e-commerce platforms, consumers now have access to a wider range of products and services than ever before. With just a few clicks, consumers can compare prices, read reviews and view specifications to find the best purchase for their needs and budget. As e-commerce continues to grow and evolve, consumers gain more control over their shopping experiences, and dealers are faced with the responsibility of matching their preferences.

Importance of Embracing Technology

The ability to gain customers and make sales online is now critical to your business. Embracing technology is no longer an option but a necessity in order to stay competitive and meet the evolving needs of your customers. By leveraging modern tools, your team can provide a better online experience for your shoppers:

Website personalization software: Tailor the website experience to individual shoppers based on their browsing history, search queries and other behavioral data so that each website visitor is shown relevant inventory and offers.
Virtual tours & showrooms: Consumers let to get a feel for a brand before they visit the store. Give your customers an immersive look at your dealership right from your website with video tours, video demos and full-spin images of your inventory.
Dynamic texting: Offering a dynamic texting service significantly enhances the online shopping experience by providing immediate, personalized support, so shoppers can receive instant answers to their queries, leading to a smoother and more satisfying purchasing process.

It's important to stay up to date with the latest technology trends and continuously optimize your online shopping experience to stay competitive in the modern digital landscape.

Reason #2: Greater Access to Information

With greater knowledge comes greater expectations. Thanks to the internet, we all have endless information at our fingertips, and the answers we’re looking for can often be solved with a quick online search. Without ever setting foot in a dealership, consumers can now explore products, read reviews and compare pricing across multiple dealerships to find the right purchase.

The result is that your dealership is marketing to consumers who are better informed and more selective than ever. Instead of driving straight to their neighborhood dealership, they’re going to opt for the dealer whose brand aligns with their values and priorities.

Make Your Online Presence Information-Rich

If your customers only interacted with your dealership online and never visited your store, how much would they learn about your brand? Could they easily find out where you’re located, which units you currently have in stock and what sets you apart from the next dealership?

The reality is that your potential customers could be browsing anywhere and at all hours – on their work computer, on their phone while in line at the bank or on their tablet from the comfort of their couch, just to name a few examples. Your dealership should also be available at all times, on all devices, for your customers. We’re not talking about having your team pull graveyard shifts at the store; we’re referring to your customers being able to find anything they need to know about your business online.

These are the main channels your dealership should keep active and up to date:

Website: Your website is the digital face of your dealership for two reasons – it’s available 24/7, and it’s one of the first platforms your customers will visit to learn about your business. For these reasons, your website should represent everything that is your brand – from product offerings and services, high-quality imagery of your store and inventory, to your company values and commitment to your customers.
Inventory listings: Wherever your inventory is listed online – on your website, social media or third-party platforms – it should always reflect what’s currently available at your dealership. With a streamlined inventory management tool, you don’t need to spend hours managing multiple online listings across all your platforms.
Social media: Social platforms like Facebook and Instagram are becoming the new search engines for consumers. Social-savvy shoppers are using social media to see what their peers are buying, read reviews, learn about new products and discover new brands. Dealers who maintain an active and authentic social media presence are more visible to potential shoppers.

Reason #3: Influence of Bigger Brands

Why are consumers so invested in a digital path to purchase? Because big brands like Amazon, Wal-Mart and eBay have been delivering streamlined digital journeys for years, and the influence of these mega brands has set a new standard of expectations for smaller stores. If a consumer can open the Amazon app and start browsing results for a new motorcycle helmet, including viewing the exact price, reading the product description and scrolling through product reviews, that consumer is unlikely to spend an afternoon visiting different dealerships in person hoping to find that same helmet. They’re going to purchase it where it’s directly available – online.

We’re not saying that your dealership can’t capture that consumer’s business. You just need to offer a digital experience that’s similar to what they’ve come to expect from the e-commerce giants.

Create a Personalized Experience

The Digital 2023: Global Overview Report found that 50% of consumers feel brands don’t offer personalized experiences. This is largely due to smaller businesses lacking the expertise and resources to adopt the same practices that big e-commerce brands offer.

Your dealership needs to invest in customer engagement tools that allow you to collect data about their customers and personalize their interactions accordingly. Here are three key areas where you can personalize each consumer’s experience:

Advertising: Think about how often you’re met with random, unrelated advertisements. Are you ever convinced to make a purchase? Nobody wants to be shown ads that don’t relate to their interests, and businesses don’t want to waste ad spend on consumers who won’t buy. Instead, create ad campaigns that target shoppers based on their interests and behaviors to demonstrate that you understand their needs, and to foster their excitement.
Remarketing: Most website visitors don’t make a purchase at their first visit, which is why remarketing is so important. Follow up with website visitors directly by sending them personalized emails based on their website actions. Examples of personalized email remarketing include sending a list of previously viewed units or timely service reminders at regular intervals.
Payment calculations: One of the most frustrating experiences as a consumer is discovering that the price listed on a website doesn’t match the price at the store. You can remove these unpleasant surprises by providing a customizable payment calculator on your website. By giving consumers the freedom to shop for units based on their budget, you’re also ensuring that by the time they reach the buying stage, they’re qualified and ready to make that purchase.
Buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS): BOPIS gives your customers the convenience of placing orders online and picking them up at your physical location. Some consumers use BOPIS to avoid shipping charges, and some just want to save time by shopping online and picking up a product soon after purchase. Whatever the reason, BOPIS has become one of the most important aspects of the retail shopping experience for modern consumers.

Reason #4: A New Generation of Buyers

Even if we hadn’t been thrust into a digital-first landscape by the pandemic, we would have reached it soon enough. The consumer demographic is changing rapidly, as millennials become the primary buying group and Gen Z ages into the market. Oberlo, a business support platform, estimates that millennials currently make up 30% of the online shopping demographic, and that number will only increase over time. The younger generations have grown up in a digital world, and they’re accustomed to communicating and buying online as well as offline.

Streamline Your Online & Offline Processes

Consider your current marketing and engagement processes with the mindset of identifying what’s working for you and what isn’t. Are there any strategies that aren’t turning a profit but are kept in place because they served you well in the past? It’s time to set aside outdated practices in favor of aligning your marketing strategies with your business needs.

Instead of trying to juggle your online and offline customers as two separate groups, consider how you can blend these journeys together to reach shoppers at any point of their buying journey:

CRM software: Track customer preferences and behaviors so you can offer targeted promotions and recommendations that are more likely to resonate with individual shoppers. By the time a consumer visits your dealership, you have a comprehensive record of their journey and can guide them directly to the final steps of the buying process.
Consistent branding: No matter where consumers are shopping – online or offline – they should always have the same high-quality experience. By maintaining a consistent brand presence, you can build a better marketing strategy and earn a reputation for good customer service.
Integrated marketing: Part of maintaining a consistent brand presence means keeping a handle on all the channels consumers use to learn about you. Integrated marketing is the practice of viewing all your channels as a single strategy to guide shoppers through the path to purchase.

Prioritize Social Media

Roughly half of adults who use social media engage with brand platforms (as stated by the Digital 2023: Global Overview Report). The visual and personal nature of social media allows consumers to dive deeply into their interests and find brands that speak to them on a personal level. The younger generations, who have always used social media to connect and be part of a group, are drawn to brands who reflect their values and are well-versed in modern culture.

This means that dealers need to be active on social media or risk losing out on valuable opportunities to build their brand and create more pathways for revenue:

Set clear goals: Know how your social media efforts are paying off by setting clear metrics such as increasing brand awareness, improving customer satisfaction or generating more sales leads.
Choose platforms based on your target audience: Instagram and TikTok are popular among younger audiences, while Facebook and LinkedIn are better suited for reaching an older demographic.
Engage with your audience: Actively engage with your followers by responding to comments and messages promptly, sharing user-generated content and asking for feedback and reviews.

By understanding the preferences and needs of younger buyers and adapting their marketing strategies accordingly, you can position your dealership for success in the modern marketplace.

The consumer mindset has changed significantly over the past few decades. Today's consumers are looking for value, convenience and personalization, and they are more informed and empowered than ever before. As dealerships adapt to modern changes, they will need to prioritize transparency and innovation in order to meet the evolving needs and expectations of their customers.