The takeaway

No brand offered a seamless end-to-end online purchase in 2021; Mercedes-Benz and Dacia led on consistent, clear transactional features.

In this insightCar retail after the pandemicWhat the study looked atHow the markets comparedHow the brands comparedKey takeaway: run your own assessmentWatch the summit presentationDownload the whitepaper

Car retail after the pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated a decade-long shift towards digital car retail. Brands with digital tools in place weathered the closures better: they kept in touch with existing customers and, with technologies such as digital showrooms, built relationships with new ones. Many customers showed they were happy to complete some or all of the purchase online.

What the study looked at

In the first quarter of 2021, Sophus3 analysts assessed car brand websites in Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain, scoring each on how well it answers questions, provides information and helps a customer through the purchase journey. The brands covered were Audi, BMW, Citroën, Dacia, Fiat, Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault, SEAT, Škoda, Tesla, Toyota, Opel/Vauxhall and Volkswagen.

17 data points were collected from 95 websites and combined into six metrics:

  • Click-to-buy: does the site openly invite you to buy, with clear calls to action and transparent pricing?
  • Personalise product: does the configurator offer a 360° view, and can you save and share a configuration?
  • Interact in real time: can you talk to a real person, including by video, and be shown around an actual vehicle?
  • Trade-in valuation: can you value the car you want to exchange?
  • Personalised quote: can you request a quote for the car you configured?
  • Try before you buy: how easy is it to request a test drive, and is a test drive from home offered?

How the markets compared

Performance across all five markets remained far from perfect. The UK scored slightly higher, with more prominent ‘Buy it now’ calls to action, more configurators that save progress, more Live Chat with video and virtual showroom functionality, and more trade-in valuation tools. Elsewhere, the differences between markets were slight.

How the brands compared

The two top-scoring brands were Mercedes-Benz and Dacia, at opposite ends of the premium-to-budget spectrum. Both rated highly for the breadth and consistency of their transactional features across every market, and for clear, brief information and short forms. The features most often missing were a ‘Buy it now’ button on model pages, a purchase link in the global navigation, and video within Live Chat.

Key takeaway: run your own assessment

The study offers a framework for assessing a website’s transactional capability. Brands will want to weight features to match their own strategy, add measures such as access to vehicle inventory and digital paperwork, and look beyond the interface to the operational capabilities that shape the real customer experience.

Watch the summit presentation

The findings were presented at the Sophus3 Automotive Digital Summit 2021. Watch the summit recording on YouTube.

Download the whitepaper

Download Rethinking car buying in the ecommerce age (PDF, 13 pages)

The detailed brand and market data behind the study is available to car brands participating in eDataXchange. Contact Sophus3 to find out more.

Originally published by Sophus3 in April 2021. Findings relate to websites assessed in the first quarter of 2021.