Since I have the pleasure of being an Internet director at a car dealership I get to spend a lot of time surfing the world wide web. Even though I may spend time on sites that are not totally related to the automobile industry, and by totally I mean not at all, I do look at many dealership websites.
The one thing I've noticed everywhere I've looked is that the car industry seems to be back in the stone age when it comes to the Internet. Not that dealers don't have nice sites or they don't have some other media on the Internet, I'm not talking about that at all, but have you noticed that you can't purchase anything from them on the Internet?
I've looked at tons of dealer websites and not once have I seen where I could buy even a part on the Internet. There may be a few dealers out there that have sites that you can buy things on but I haven't come across them yet. How many retail establishments out there can you not buy something online from? I can buy clothes, electronics, groceries, and, get this, car parts from other vendors, but I can buy nothing from a dealer website. Yes that is a short list of things you can buy because you can buy virtually anything.
So the question is, "How come I can't make any type of purchase on a dealer website?"
Here's a thought I had today as I pondered this. Scion, a brand put out by Toyota as a no haggle no hassle buying process, can't just be purchased online and picked up at the dealer. Even though the pricing is all set on menus by the Toyota dealership selling the Scion so everyone pays the same amount. It would seem that this would make the buying process so much easier for the customer as well as the dealership.
I know it's not as easy as it sounds. The car industry has made the buying process the way it currently is. I have to add that the customers have as well though. What if a dealer placed a shopping cart and checkout on there site and priced cars at the lowest amount to make some money and also get the customers a price they agreed with. Would people purchase a car that way, or is there so much mistrust that consumer would still want more off the car? Would the fast and easy process of buying be worth it to both sides?
People purchase vehicles off eBay all the time from people 100s of miles away. Why not be able to purchase a vehicle right down the street the same way.
My time is important to me and if I can keep from spending a ton of it in one place doing something that shouldn't take near as long as it does I'm all for it. What are some of your opinions on it?
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