The Evolution of Automotive Digital Transacting

While online shopping experiences have been a staple across industries for decades, the automotive space has largely remained an exception as many OEMs still work to establish ecommerce experiences.

Customers would rather shop from the comfort of their homes in virtual showrooms with immersive online content.

With regard to selling vehicles, dealer franchise laws present some restrictions in the ability to sell entirely online. However, due to disruptors and innovators like Carvana, CarMax, and TrueCar, heritage OEMs have made progress in streamlining the vehicle purchasing process by enabling customers to begin their transaction online rather than at the dealer. Most of this transformation has taken the shape of vehicle ordering and reservation experiences.

Significant strides have also been made to build experiences that help customers make a purchase online, with orders being directly fulfilled by the OEM or fulfilled by dealers. This is especially the case for parts, accessories, merchandise, services, and subscriptions. Distributing via ecommerce, however, continues to evolve as customers increasingly demand ways to transact completely online.