Dealership Support at Automotive from Two Points of View

At Automotive, our brands work very closely with car dealerships to make sure that they can offer their users a great selection and comparison of different makes and models.

Jan Schenker, Head of Sales within our Automotive portfolio, was able to give us a peek at the inner workings of AutoScout24’s dealership support and how their processes ultimately benefit not only the people who sell the cars but the users who buy them. In addition, Mathias Jenny, Head of UX Research at Automotive, gave us some insight into how improving the user experience is paramount for the enjoyment of the whole customer journey.

Subscribing, Onboarding, Go!

There are two ways via which a car dealer will end up selling on AutoScout24: Either the dealership contacts AutoScout24 or – and this is more common – an AutoScout24 representative approaches the dealership, introduces them to our product, its advantages, and benefits, and signs them up to an insertion subscription.

After the dealership has signed a contract, the Field Service team will begin the onboarding process. This team sets up the system and shows the dealership how to upload their vehicles to the platform and how to use the AutoScout24 Digital Showroom. During the contract period, the dealership is free to list as many vehicles as are available and is able to receive purchase inquiries. Ideally, the dealership will be able to sell the vehicles online. Shortly before the agreed-upon contract period ends, the dealership is contacted by the Account Manager at AutoScout24 to discuss a continuation of the contract.

Pretty straightforward, right? So what exactly are the benefits of using AutoScout24 to sell or buy a car?

The Good and the Great at AutoScout24

AutoScout24 is the largest online car marketplace in Switzerland and therefore offers a huge range of dealerships for new and used cars with a high volume of users searching every day. For sellers this means having a high reach, with over 500 search queries being generated every minute, one new used car being advertised every minute and one used car being sold via the platform every 67 seconds! A lot of engagement and activity for one minute.

Similarly, a buyer has the largest selection of cars on one platform. Not only can a buyer find virtually any vehicle on AutoScout24, but at the same time they can find out about insurance and financing costs. To make the platform even more trustworthy, a buyer gets a useful piece of preliminary information via the supplier rating, that tells them whether they are looking at a good dealership or not.

In general, safety and trust are a huge priority for AutoScout24. The supplier rating is one measure to give a potential buyer instant feedback on the trustworthiness of a dealership. The rating is based on real customer experiences and feedback. However, should a buyer still come across a dubious ad, they have the option of reporting it to the AutoScout24 team via the advertisement check. The ad will then be manually investigated and removed if necessary. Our Automotive teams also continually invest in technical developments to keep the infrastructure and protection in terms of cyber security up to date.

It’s the (User) Journey that Counts

AutoScout24 has various features that should make the online sale of a vehicle a lot easier. Depending on the subscription, these features can be found in their user account’s “Dealer” area. A new feature specifically intended to facilitate and shorten the sales process is the option of Online Purchase. With this option, the dealership can directly offer the vehicle for sale online. This process is very simple but maximizes flexibility on both the seller’s and buyer’s side:

The vehicle is reserved without obligation of purchase for up to 72 hours. This time is offered to clarify open questions between seller and buyer.
The seller will call the buyer within one business day to discuss contract details and inform them about a variety of options, such as leasing or trade-in.
Depending on the means of payment and contract (i.e. cash purchase, leasing or other), the appropriate formalities will be initiated.
Once payment has been received, the handover is agreed upon and completed.
Should the vehicle not meet the buyers’ expectations, they can return it within seven days free of charge if the vehicle has not travelled more than 150km in that time.

This online purchasing feature removes a lot of back-and-forth communication for both parties and enables a smoother transaction.

The teams at Automotive are also adamant about giving the users what they really need and want. Besides running surveys with dealerships on how to improve the products and gathering feedback directly from sales representatives, the UX team at AutoScout24 have recently started to interview dealerships on a regular basis. Every four weeks, on Fridays, three dealerships from different market segments are interviewed about their processes, shown prototypes of potential future features and asked about their current user experience on the platform. The aim of AutoScout24 is to expand sales-customer relationships and put the users and product developers in direct contact to improve the platform with a true customer-centric approach.

A thank you goes to Jan Schenker and Mathias Jenny for giving us an insight into their projects!