3E IT Solutions applies IOT to bring connected car experiences in the automotive landscape
The automotive landscape for car dealerships have seen significant changes over the past few years. Although 2016 was a reasonable year for sales, analysts suggest that dealerships will see a major dip, and will be forced into closure by 2025.
Recent surveys show that 50% of the respondents dislike the face to face sales process at dealerships, which requires too much negotiation and lacks transparency. This distaste is leading an increasing number of customers to opt for purchasing online, where they can access multiple brands at better pricing with added finance and insurance options.
To add to this, OEMs like Tesla are taking in-car computing to a new level, which will put more Autonomous Vehicles on the road in the next 10 years. This is expected to reduce accidents by 80%, which would in turn close out many body shops, and put a big hole in sales at dealerships.
Like most business challenges, this poses a great opportunity for early adopters and a great risk to those who rely on traditional methods.
To survive, dealerships need to acknowledge that connectivity, user engagement, and immersive experiences will fundamentally shape how consumers purchase, how much they pay, and whether they buy a vehicle at all.
3E IT Solutions helps auto dealerships take the steps to stay relevant in the changing economy through a two-pronged approach of first taking their business online and providing personalized purchase journeys that extends not only car selection, but also through the process of financing and insurance recommendations.
Secondly, using OBD to capture a vehicle’s computer sensor data through on-board diagnostics, 3E IT Solutions makes it possible to adopt IOT to improve sales.
By collecting real time insights into driving patterns, accidents, car health, safety of driving and mileage, 3E’s solution helps to profile consumers based on their usage behaviour and personas. This puts auto dealerships in a better position to make the right car recommendation to a prospective buyer, and thereby increase the probability of a sale. These insights also allows dealers to accelerate after sales strategy through up sell for parts replacement, issuing service reminders, or making recommendations on more fuel efficient purchases.
Information on the consumers driving patterns is also significant for the auto insurance industry. Detailed insights helps lenders measure and price risk and extend credit to borrowers who would otherwise not qualify. It also helps to separate and incentivise insurance premiums for light drivers from the subsidizing group of heavier drivers.
Dealerships that maintain a relationship with buyers, even after the car purchase process, create a higher level of customer satisfaction which acts as a differentiator. Harnessing Amazon Echo’s beam forming technology and the Alexa voice service on mobile devices over a 3G connection, 3E IT Solutions and Echo make it possible allows consumers to get information on the current speed on a family member’s car, locate a car right down to street address, get information on the car’s fuel status and next service.
As consumers move away from in store purchase to on line purchase, accessibility through any device, transparency during the sales lifecycle and differentiators that create customer delight will act as the differentiator to determine how a consumer picks and sticks to a dealership.
Contact us to find out more about how IoT can be used to enhance your presence in the automotive industry.
About 3E IT Solutions
3E IT Solutions has been a leading provider of business enabler IT solutions in mobile, immersive experiences and cloud based product engineering for the past decade. By delivering IOT solutions and contextual insights, 3E supports the connected car economy.
With 10 years of experience and a team of 50+, 3E has built successful relationships with enterprises and start-ups alike, across various industry verticals, including Automotive, Real Estate, Healthcare, Retail and Financial Services.
Author:
J Boby
CEO,3E IT Solutions