Car finance is a process that can be relatively straight-forward for an experienced driver who has purchased several cars in the past, but it could seem a bit daunting to somebody who is about to buy a car for the very first time. With most companies now turning to the internet to attract car buyers we have seen the footfall in forecourts drop drastically similar to what we are currently seeing on the high streets. The biggest businesses affect in retail are in the fashion sector and this is now trickling slowly to other areas including buying cars. To check on a few statistics, UK only we have more than 60 million people and pretty much the same number of mobile devices actively being used. Therefore, in an age where everyone reading less of newspapers and watching less TV and consuming material on demand, targeting your audience on the move is crucial. Fortunately, the process has now become digitalised to make things much simpler and easier, and we here at Accept Car Finance have procedures in place which means that you only have to complete a couple of tasks online for this to be carried out, and they go as follows.
Having been one of the first companies to pioneer online car finance we have a simple four step process which I will list for you as a summary before we dwell deeper into this article:
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- Apply online
- Get approved
- Choose your dream car
- Sign & drive
What happening to Traditional Car Shopping?
Majority of people will start by first exploring what car they want and thereafter get the finance. This reminds me back in the day before the internet became popular, the traditional car buying process involved, checking news papers for local car ads or driving to a car dealership, haggling with a car salesman for the best price, waiting your turn for a test drive and subsequently applying for your car finance.
If we dwell on this we will be here all day discussing the differences of traditional and modern car buying habits. Recent research indicated that more than 75% of car shoppers in this decade used their smartphones during the car buying process, and this also involved product comparison from the car dealership. This trend is more amongst the millenial as they are more computer savvy buyers and will compete most of the car buying process online, signup for insurance online and basically no time if any at a forecourt of the car dealership as most dealerships will even deliver it to your driveway as part of their services.
During the times we were doing this piece, we contacted Rix Motors to see what they think has changed based our research and observation. A quick back ground of this dealer car finance specialist based in Cheshire. Rix Motors has been running for over 40 years and they confirmed that they are now seeing less people driving to the showroom to buy the cars but there is a lot of conversation happening in the backoffice i.e. online via emails, social media and even telephone. Majority of people will come to the showroom just to pick the car so definitely the tides and trends have changed, moreso, the past decade.
The Future of Car Buying
Companies in America, especially used car dealerships are setting the pace using machine learning and augmented reality technology. Augmented reality (AR) by definition from Wikipedia is an interactive experience of a real-world environment where the objects that reside in the real-world are enhanced by computer-generated perceptual information, sometimes across multiple sensory modalities. Even though Rix Motors hasn’t started using this technology yet, most of their processses are online and they have made so simple you don’t need to interact with Sale people if you don’t need to. They have typical become one of the best online used car dealer that allows customers to shop, finance, and trade in cars through their website.
Firstly, you can go to the Car Search section to check out all of the deals that we currently provide, with filters based on manufacturers, engines, ranges and more. The digital aspect means that you can discover hundreds of cars with the simple click of a button. Once you have navigated the site and picked out the vehicle that you feel is best for you, you can click Apply For Finance to begin the process of applying for an automotive finance deal.
Next up, you complete your personal details, this will be used to perform the soft search to get your credit score and what your expected budget would be. Incidentally, you should have a good idea beforehand as to what cars are in your price range, otherwise you could potentially find yourself signing up to an agreement that does not match what you would be able to pay monthly. Either way, the website allows you to complete this page and officially submit your application 1 for approval.
Assuming that everything stacks up and that you are approved 2, the next step is to officially pick the car 3 that you want. We know, we know: you’ve already picked out a vehicle, but there are several deals for each model based on registration, mileage, bodywork and so on. And again, this is all handled digitally, from an email notifying you of an approved application to the website allowing you to check through each of the main options, and to narrow down your choices to the best possible vehicle for your needs. Finally, the process is completed through the option to digitally sign up for your agreement 4, and from there, it’s just a matter of time before you’re sat behind the wheel of that very car! The 4 simple steps have all been discussed above and just by doing this the buying processs has now been reduced from atleast 3 weeks using the traditional systems to about 4 days at this day and age.
The digitalisation of automotive finance makes for a far easier, quicker and more efficient process than ever before, and we hope that you will reap the benefits when the time comes for you to buy your next (or first) car.
For more information about this article contact www.simbadigitalmarketing.com.