We ask ourselves what the future of the car will be like and what the shopping experiences will be like. Today we want to talk about an interview given, how long ago, by the former head of strategy at Cars.com. An interesting analysis, also in light of recent events in the automotive world.

Every day we are targeted and bombarded with dozens of auto advertisements. If we try to think locally, we will notice how experiences are at the center of advertising. The automotive world is currently moving towards the concept of sustainable mobility, in an increasingly important way. Combining experience with sustainable mobility seems to be the most preponderant and most important aspect for all marketing managers.

But if we try to make an effort, and imagine what 2030 could be like in the automotive world, then something could be different from the current world. The cars will most likely be more technological, and we will have cars with very advanced driving aids.

Within this article, we want to return to an analysis made some time ago by the former head of strategy at Cars.com. Matthew Gold envisioned a seamless digital process for car buyers and a mandatory evolution for the dealership.

First, let's say Matthew led the strategy of one of the largest digital markets in the world for cars, with annual revenues of hundreds of millions of dollars. The latter also previously worked at Google, as an emerging markets strategy manager: he is a very knowledgeable person.

According to Matthew, in 2030, people will be able to buy cars in different "locations". The role of the dealership will no longer be fundamental and will no longer be the only one.

The world of commerce will change considerably, and dealerships could be overtaken by the manufacturers themselves, who could sell directly to final consumers on other occasions. The car could in fact be sold in some stores, which are not necessarily car dealerships.

People, therefore, will no longer have an incentive to try the car, but could buy it as any common good.

The digital aspect will be predominant and will be one of the most important factors for the sale of cars . Now a customer in most cases takes a first step into virtual reality: tomorrow it could be in almost all cases.

The retail process will then go digital. All the laps that we normally do at the various dealerships currently will therefore be a distant memory in 2030. Matthew, in fact, speculates that people will search for a very large number of information online, which will then have to be cataloged and entered into digital, informative and non-informative stores.

Most likely in 2030, therefore, people will go inside the dealership with the certain intention of buying that particular car, in case they do not want to buy it online.

They will be perfectly informed of how to buy it and with what types of payments. In this way, the time spent inside the dealership will be significantly less, and the ability of the seller to make the sale of add-ons during the sale will also decrease. Much of a car's buying margin comes from add-ons such as insurance or extended warranties. In the future, it is therefore planned to eliminate this margin, as people will be better informed.

A second very important aspect is the personalization of the cars. Customers will see their cars significantly customized and this will only increase the so-called big data, or the amount of data that car manufacturers make available to consumers themselves.

In this way people will already know what other people normally buy, and therefore will be directed towards some sort of time optimization. This way there will be fewer searches with long timelines and much more searches with short timelines.

The days spent looking for the best car will therefore be eliminated from a whole series of big data, which will allow us to provide the optimal solution in a very short time.

But this involves a lot of behind-the-scenes work to figure out exactly which machine is optimal for that particular customer. It follows a great deal of work, in terms of data analysis, by the car manufacturers and site optimization.

The dealerships will therefore have a new role compared to the current world. Currently, we can spend a lot of time and several days in a dealership before deciding which car to buy. Tomorrow, salespeople will have to be much smarter in understanding their customers exactly, and in being able to deliver a sales experience that makes sense for that particular customer.

Resellers, therefore, will have to anticipate the needs of customers' people, in order to be able to optimize time and maximize their earnings. Put concretely and directly, car dealers will not be the main players in this change, but they will have to adapt.

However, according to the interviewee, the role of the dealership will not be obsolete and will not be replaced within 8-10 years by other sales channels. All this obviously can change depending on the single geographical area. The reason is soon to be said.

Dealers, therefore, must keep their competitiveness and their role in the car buying process high. Matthew's advice is to invest in a range of end-to-end digital partnerships to ensure that active offerings are similar or better than digital players.

Developing an innovative form of digital experience is complex for dealers, but it is one of the few choices they can make to survive.

The second aspect is to invest in customer services. People want, and will increasingly want, other people who solve their problems. Tomorrow's best seller will be the one who will be able to solve problems in no time for their customers. The dealerships, therefore, will not go to sell a product, but will characterize a service, and optimally customize the service itself.

When it comes to autonomous vehicles, there is still a lot of indecision about it . Certainly, in certain geo-localized areas, it will be possible to make trips with autonomous cars, as is already happening in micro pilot projects.

Obviously, this technology can be applied in certain confined areas, which, however, cannot be developed in the majority of public roads within 10 years.

The current second level driving aid systems, which will soon become third level, are however an important help for people in reducing road accidents. Even simply the "adaptive cruise control" is definitely an optimal product that serves to maximize safety on the motorway, in order to avoid rear-end collisions and collisions in fast sections.

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