Introduction
The Nordic West region (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden) is at the top of the curve from a technological perspective. We are early adopters: embracers of sustainable living who are willing to pioneer retailing, adapt lifestyles, and conduct business to benefit our emotional, economic, and environmental wellbeing. We have the same mindset when it comes to vehicle ownership and mobility.
Consumers expect digitally driven ease
It is becoming increasingly common in the Nordic West to purchase a car without visiting the showroom or bank or physically signing any documents. It is easy. But not all car purchasing journeys are as seamless. Many customers still have to repeat themselves, re-enter information, and remind dealerships to make contact and deliver on their requests.
All customers want their interactions with automotive retailers to be joined up, so they are remembered from one touchpoint to the next. They want to pick conversations up where they left them, whether they are using WhatsApp, SMS, the phone, or any other communication channel. They want things to flow, which means old and new dealerships need to deliver an end-to-end omnichannel experience.
Globally, Keyloop calls this approach Experience-First, while in our more plain-speaking countries we call it ‘what needs to be done.’
The technology must be seamless, and the data must be clean, compliant, and joined across all touchpoints. That’s why tailoring applications within the Keyloop Dealer Management System (DMS) is so important for us in the Nordic West.
Our market serves advanced customers who want to drive their own retail interactions. Keyloop’s job is to work with them to deliver the technological solutions that will help them surpass consumer expectations and take advantage of future opportunities – regardless of where they currently are in their digital transformation journey. This includes collaborating closely with partners and integrating their apps and solutions – such as those delivered by Tjekvik and RentLog – to make the end experience as complete as possible.
Is MaaS transport changing the marketplace?
While there are still plenty of customers in the Nordics buying, leasing, and renting cars, the region also leads the world in Mobility as a Service (MaaS): using alternative, more sustainable solutions such as public transport, sharing a vehicle or carpooling. An increasing number of people are choosing to access mobility solutions as and when they please.
This matters to automotive retailers not only because it is changing their market, but also because it will change how consumers want to interact with them. Keyloop’s Experience-First blueprint can help retailers ask the right questions, create the route map, and provide the technological platform to best deliver to this evolving need for alternative mobility choices.
MaaS is economically advantageous for consumers because it lets them pay for mobility only when they need it. The typical private car in Denmark is mostly parked at home or in a parking lot and people are asking how they can use transport more optimally so they can save money and help the environment at the same time.
There is much scepticism about EVs and greenwashing in the Nordics right now. Although people would like to use more sustainable transport, and Norway is ahead of most countries for EV adoption, it is widely known that battery production and replacement creates pollution. And, if the electricity itself isn’t renewable, they struggle to see EVs as the future of sustainable transport.
The future of mobility is a challenge for the whole automotive industry, not just retail, as evolving mobility solutions continue to multiply. There are new entrants to the market all the time: new brands, diverse types of transport, and companies from other industries looking to pivot their technology to benefit automotive customers. If existing retailers do not fill the gaps in mobility services, these new players will.
Automotive retailers must take an active role in the mobility conversation, strategically consider their position within the ecosystem, and collaborate with partners (such as us) to future-proof their businesses and guarantee they can cater to the mobility customers of tomorrow.
What consumers want from their automotive retailer
There are three key things that consumers in the Nordics expect from their automotive retailer:
Trust: Customers want to be able to trust the company they are dealing with, from the very first interaction. They will have done their research beforehand, so by the time they come to you, they’ll be well-informed about your business and expect you to meet their first impressions. Making each touchpoint relevant, joined up, frictionless and positive is essential. Customer loyalty and advocacy have a powerful influence on purchasing decisions.
Simplicity: Every experience must be easy – I’ve already talked about this a lot. With so much choice out there, it is easy for consumers to go elsewhere.
Superior service: Consumers want to be understood, taken care of, and guided through the entire process – both online and in person. Now, great service for some may mean never going face-to-face with another human again, so long as it is seamless, and their needs are met at every stage.
Experience-First removes pain points for retailers and customers alike
Experience-First has enabled Keyloop to showcase the innovations we are delivering and developing to our automotive retail network across the region. It allows us to have the right conversations with the right people, lets us build retailer-specific solutions using the power of our DMS and help our customers remain relevant and trusted by their customers.
And we are hearing great success stories from retailers about this approach. Service Hub Clocking, which makes many dealer processes paperless, is a notable example of us delivering a product that perfectly meets the needs of our market. The workshop no longer needs to key in data endlessly. Instead, they do it once, and then the data seamlessly flows across the retailers’ internal systems, adding to the hundreds of consumer touchpoints and giving a 360-degree view of each one.
What do Experience-First solutions look like in real life? Imagine: it’s 10pm at night and a customer remembers that they need to get their car serviced. They don’t need to wait for the workshop to open, they can go to the website, find a suitable time, and book online. They can also add notes to their booking, including any extra work they want done. Keyloop then pulls that information into the DMS for the workshop to read. No one has to re-enter it into another system, and there are no coffee-stained printouts or messy handwriting to deal with. The customer’s requests will be dealt with because it is all there for the technician to see.
This is at the heart of our approach: considering all the processes involved across a retailer and providing ways to do business more easily and efficiently, whether for operational, legal, or fiscal convenience.
Maintaining market share in the face of increasing competition
Because the market in Nordic countries is so advanced, it is often used by new entrants, with new operational business models, to assess new sales and ownership strategies. For example, one of the latest brands has just two parking lots in Denmark where they house their operation. The sales teams take digital appointments to showcase the new vehicles. There’s no need for a showroom at all. A radical—almost subversive—approach to selling cars. And, right now, it works because the volumes of vehicles are manageable.
Most businesses need to achieve and maintain a critical volume of sales – a viable percentage of the market – before it is sustainable. However, sales models are changing with so many new brands coming into the market – each taking a small but accumulating percentage. They have different strategies and ways of doing things. Of course, once sales volumes reach a critical point, they will need to start handling data properly. But for now, they are collectively eroding the market share of established businesses, particularly when you consider that customer loyalty is becoming harder to sustain.
In the past, if you bought a vehicle, you kept it for four or five years and then changed it for a new one. But today, with so much more flexibility on ownership models and contract lengths, you can easily swap your vehicle as soon whenever you want. Costs are becoming much more transparent – which is a good thing – and this makes it easier for consumers to shop around. But it also makes it easier for the customer to take their business elsewhere – even more reason to deliver a differentiated and complete customer experience.
This is yet another reason for the Experience-First approach to data management. As OEMs move closer to the end customer, eager to understand their behaviours, and retailers grow increasingly keen to serve highly personalised interactions, it is critical that we comply with all relevant data regulations. And it is important that the industry trusts us to do this in collaboration with them because getting it right will be transformative.
Using compliant data makes it possible to better understand what customers are likely to do, and what they need next. Properly harness volume data and it is possible to predict and respond to needs. What an exciting development for automotive retailers, with some clear business wins. It could be as simple as reaching out before a vehicle service is due, or contacting a customer when they are most likely to want to change their vehicle.
Keeping pace with change
The way technology is advancing, digitalisation and automation are inevitable, and it makes life easier for businesses if they can save time and money in the process. It is understandable that retailers like self-service models, just as we’ve seen adopted in other industries. And as we know, they can be convenient for customers, too.
The market is moving rapidly right now. At Keyloop, we are working hard to make sure we are positioned to support the industry’s future business needs. Markets are all moving at different paces and in different ways, but we’re keeping track of what’s happening where so we can learn and share experiences between regions and countries across our business. And just as we are working hard to make sure no one gets left behind, dealers need to be doing the same – to be aware of what they are facing in the short-term and longer-term inevitabilities.
This means making sure all internal processes are ready and robust enough to support the services on offer now and in the future. First movers and early adopters know this already. But for others it can be hard to play catch-up with the rest of the market if your processes and systems are not already in good shape.
Read the full whitepaper here.
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