With the new decade now in its infancy, have you thought about what the key trends for the next 10 years will be and how they will affect you and your store moving forward? 

In an increasingly turbulent market, it’s easy to feel the pressure that surrounds our sector and the reoccurring question of “What’s next?” But one thing we’re good at in this industry is to be resilient. There are things companies can be doing to turn their fortunes around. I’m talking about the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI). 

There’s AI Everywhere

In the automotive industry, you are already surrounded by AI technology, from the integration of smart sensors in a vehicle and computing power to driverless vehicles.

Without us even realizing it, AI has infiltrated many areas of our lives. Take Amazon for example. Automatic responses keep you updated on all areas of your buying journey, an email if you didn’t make a purchase will show you similar items you’d be interested in, following your purchase trends. While this doesn’t mean that a robot will deliver your package — yet — it does mean that they are able to make the buying experience a lot more convenient and customized for you. 

Companies are using AI to solve cognitive problems associated with human intelligence, such as learning, problem solving and recognizing patterns. Depending on the size of your store, this may be a challenge for your corporate/internet teams to be taking on. But we cannot underestimate the impact AI will have within your store’s culture as we try and personalize our everyday processes for our customers. We strive to give them the personal experience they deserve, with a focus on building relationships for a greater sales opportunity and referral leads.

An example of AI that you are likely using in your store already is online chat, now efficiently containing chatbots. Chatbots are designed to simulate a human conversation. They allow you to spend time on more focused goals elsewhere in the dealership as the chatbot works out patterns of customer questions and inquiries. In turn, you as a consumer have probably used a chatbot when making an online inquiry about a product.

What Does AI Mean for Me and My Store?

AI helps support your dealership’s distribution and communication.

Focus on the customer churn – Analytics will be put in place to help you understand customer behavior and point out buying signals to help close deals.

Personalization – AI will help you provide a more personal customer experience by using predictive analytic models to recommend more stock or inventory and optimize this dependant on customer actions.

As video use in the dealership continues to expand in 2020, allowing us a different way of communicating with our customers, the way we can introduce AI is paramount. Video will have a savvy way of making customer contact even easier for you and your team. It provides a more streamlined and effective approach, allowing you to have access and use of this intelligence, whatever size store and whatever your position.

So, is AI something we should be scared of? As the average consumer spends approximately 18 hours online researching the vehicle most suitable for them, we need to be more efficient in our approach. AI will certainly change the way we currently do things but it’s more about how it can support you, not replace you.