Dealers in the UK must enhance their digital offering to meet the growing technological preferences of consumers, according to JD Power.
The study, which surveyed over 6,500 consumers, found that customers are increasingly turning to more technological methods when scheduling and communicating with dealers.
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“Customers in younger generations are certainly affecting industry-wide behaviours when it comes to service experience expectations, and this will become more notable as they begin to represent a larger portion of the service business,” said Josh Halliburton, vice president and head of European operations at JD Power.
“However, there is an increase in preference among those in all generations for text message updates. For example, in the five years this study has been conducted, there has been an 8% increase in preference for this type of communication among Boomers. We expect text message updates will become the most preferred means of interaction among all generations within the next few years.”
Tablets also proved popular among consumers, with satisfaction higher when dealers incorporate tablet usage in their service process. Overall satisfaction is highest when tablets are used to provide cost estimates, show a menu of options, and conduct multi-point inspections.
A quarter of respondents said they prefer to schedule dealer appointments via the internet, but only 17% are doing so. A further 31% of surveyed consumers indicated a preference to receive text message updates, but less than half of those receive such updates.
“There are still areas where UK dealers can differentiate themselves by providing an exceptional service experience,” Halliburton continued. “Top performers one year can end up below the industry average the next, so paying attention to the little things can make a huge difference in cultivating customer relationships.”
Audi achieved the highest ranking among premium brands, ahead of Mercedez-Benz in second and BMW in third. Suzuki ranked highest among volume brands, ahead of Toyota and Honda.
