The value of interactive kiosks for auto dealerships

When it comes to shopping for cars, customer kiosks are an effective and eye-catching way to improve on the customer experience.

If you are an auto dealership without an interactive kiosk, we have one question for you: what are you waiting for?! When it comes to shopping for cars, customer kiosks are an effective and eye-catching way to close a sale, increase customer engagement and enhance overall customer appreciation of your product.

Reinforce your online brand
Modern day window-shopping has become an online affair. According to MineWhat, 81 percent of shoppers head to the worldwide web before making a purchase, while 61 percent of customers read online product reviews before committing to an investment. Of those consumers, the average shopper visits three online stores before biting the cash bullet.

Like it or not, online research is a key part of the shopping experience. Interactive kiosks can play a role in backing up this online data. Displaying customer product reviews and confirming the Internet presence your business has already fostered online, can help build customer trust. This cross-channel branding allows for customers to feel a sense of consistency and can ultimately help reinforce your car company's brand value.

"Customer kiosks create a low-pressure sales environment for consumers."

Low-pressure engagement
Purchasing a car is no small investment. Chances are if a customer has made their way into your dealership, they are pretty serious about making a purchase. However, hovering sales representatives can often have a stress-inducing presence.

Interactive kiosks provide all the benefits of a sales rep without the stress of actually having to talk to a person. Younger customers making their first car purchase often feel much more at ease with this type of interaction. Customer kiosks create a low-pressure sales environment for consumers looking to engage with your products in a more liberal manner.

Real-time demos
Cars aren't exactly what they used to be. In fact, you'd have a hard time convincing Doc. Brown and Marty McFly from Back to the Future that these high-tech automobiles aren't the beginning of a robot-takeover. With special features like automatic-parallel parking, traffic light countdowns and accident-predictors, cars are more advanced and exciting than ever.

However, all these gizmos and gadgets do require increased explanation. Interactive kiosks can do the work for you. With how-to-videos displayed on high definition screens, consumers can learn how to use relevant car functions and become educated on how to get the most out of their potential new car.

Promote, promote, promote!
While the end goal is to make a car sale, kiosks can also provide key information about other services offered by your dealership. For example, many consumers don't fully understand the benefits of buying directly from a dealer. Customers are afforded luxuries during the sale such as lavish lounges, and after the sale is closed customers can come in for free car washes.

Additionally, you can promote car accessories for purchase right in the dealership. While many consumers head online for these products as an after-thought, your new interactive kiosk can prompt them to buy these accessories from you instead of a third-party seller.

"Information-rich displays can help sales associates as they pitch your product."

The digital sales associate
With an auto dealership as nice as yours, we're sure business is booming. As such, customer kiosk stands can provide a helpful hand when all your sales associates are busy closing sales. These visually-appealing displays can keep customers entertained while they wait, with the added bonus of getting them increasingly excited about your car selection.

These information-rich displays can also help your sales associates as they pitch your product. Even the best sales associate can have a slip-up. When those days come and they forget a key selling point, sales staffers can simply redirect customers to these information kiosks to answer any and all questions.