Drivers in UAE shun the showroom to call up an internet car bargain

Nine buyers in 10 do their new car research online

ABU DHABI // The days of an outing to the showroom with Dad for advice on buying your first car have officially been consigned to the scrapyard.

Nine out of 10 customers have no idea which car they will buy before they start researching online, new research suggests.

“That compares with 79 per cent in the UK and 80 per cent in the US. The discrepancy comes from the number of available brands here,” said Marie de Ducla, head of the motor industry section at the regional office of Google, which carried out the research.

“UAE residents have high purchasing power, and expats usually experience an increase in purchasing power when they move here.

“This gives individuals more choice and thus makes them more undecided when starting to search for a car.”

The country’s love of mobile devices was obvious in the report, with 60 per cent of car buyers using their mobiles to research models and, increasingly, watch videos (77 per cent) about cars.

The trend has already been spotted by dealerships competing for customers.

“We are working on a completely new mobile engagement strategy,” said Patrick Fourniol, head of marketing at Al Futtaim Motors Toyota.

“It will allow people to virtually complete their purchasing decision via a mobile platform. We have a dedicated team that provides constant updates and actively engages with the online community.”

“This results in more test drives and purchase consideration, as well as increased sales,” Mr Fourniol said.

The report suggests a clear digital strategy can pay dividends for car dealers but a disconnect between digital marketing and the physical response can bring a negative response.

“The online experience is expected to mirror the physical reality, so bad service virtually is the same as bad service face to face,” said Mrs de Ducla.

“It seems some customer relationship management systems are not organised and developed in a way that the dealership can refer to, or follow up on, the request. They then lose all the leads they get from online media. Over half of our respondents (56 per cent) would turn to another dealer with an inadequate online response, and some would switch brand.”

While digital platforms increasingly shape the marketing of most brands and the ubiquity of smartphones allows instant access to a variety of platforms, some car salesmen believe cars are still bought in a showroom, not on a phone.

“The vast majority of our customers who do their research online still prefer human interaction to help them with the purchase decision,” said Fardeen Sara, general manager of sales at Al Futtaim Honda. “They are looking for the buying experience and someone to guide them before they sign on the dotted line. There is a small minority of customers who know exactly what they want and simply walk in and purchase on the day as long as the deal is right.”