By Kanav Singla, CEO & Co-founder of Metadome.ai
The automotive sector is experiencing unprecedented changes driven by technological advancements and digital disruptions. Amid the growing automotive landscape, gone are the days when automakers relied on their manufacturing capabilities as the sole factor in attracting new customers. Given changing customer preferences, automakers today require not only feature-packed vehicles but also immersive experiences to enhance the buyer’s journey. This is owing to the new age of customers, who nowadays discover, assess, and compare vehicles on online channels before visiting a brick-and-mortar dealership to see a car they like.
To attract customers and answer their critical questions, becoming a complete source of information is the need of the hour for automobile brands. To efficiently do so, automakers can adopt cutting-edge technologies such as extended reality (XR). By utilising the functionalities of virtual reality (VR), a subset of XR, automakers can provide highly immersive experiences and help consumers make informed purchases. This technology is already being leveraged in different use cases such as virtual showrooms, virtual test drives, and product configurators, which enables automotive brands to provide delightful purchasing journeys to their customers.
A new showroom experience
According to a study by Google and Kantar TNS, 92% of car buyers research online before making a purchase. However, this research process does not provide the visual understanding of the vehicle that is crucial in making an informed purchase. VR in this regard solves this issue by allowing customers to visualise and evaluate their preferred car model using various VR automobile applications from the comfort of their homes. Beyond websites it lets consumers interact with various vehicle characteristics to acquire information or cycle through custom selections, these new technologies provide much more. Customers can browse different models, change their features, and personalise their cars using virtual showrooms. Compared to a paper brochure or video presentation, this approach has been shown to be more immersive and engaging.
Test drives at fingertips
In the digital era, where information is available at our fingertips, customers are more inclined towards gaining ample details of a product before making a purchase and automobiles are not an exception. However, for a lot of potential customers, having mere non-interactive information is not enough, as this does not help them make a clear decision. According to a study by Cox Automotive, only one out of three buyers knows the exact vehicle they want to purchase. In this regard, automakers can provide them with virtual test drives, where they can drive their shortlisted model and make a better choice. It provides easy access to the driving dynamics of different vehicles without actually driving them. Furthermore, it also provides a safer environment for the customers where they can evaluate the features of the cars on different terrains. Overall, it delivers a high degree of convenience and immersion to prospective customers.
Provision of personalization
Personalization is a major component of many marketing teams’ plans since it helps businesses retain consumers, cultivate audiences’ trust, and remain relevant. According to McKinsey research, 71% of consumers want organisations to provide personalised experiences, and 76% feel disappointed when this fails to happen. Automakers should therefore prioritise offering customers the choice of personalization, and VR can assist them in doing so. Customers can easily configure products using a VR configurator, an interactive marketing tool, and explore elements like colour, surface materials, and accessories in Virtual Reality (or optionally on-screen). The customers are provided with options to visualise and customise their vehicle in real time, and they can evaluate the impact of their changes. It allows them to create a tailored vehicle configuration as per their preferences, which enhances their overall car shopping experience.
Embracing the virtual road
Customer experience, or CX, has become a crucial element for automakers as well today. According to Emplifi research, 61% of consumers will spend at least 5% extra if they have a positive customer experience. Therefore, in order to stay ahead of the curve, automakers need to take this factor into consideration.
In this regard, VR can provide an efficient solution when it comes to providing immersive experiences to customers. With the provision of virtual showrooms, test drives, and configuration options, manufacturers can eventually enhance engagement, resulting in a better buyer’s journey and increased sales. In the wake of widespread digitalization, the market for the automotive industry is becoming more consumer-focused. And by applying relevant XR Automotive solutions, automakers can now offer seamless experiences to their customers.
