Progress for Eden Vauxhall launching new Interactive Web Experience

We have just launched a stunning new website for Eden Motor Group http://www.edenvauxhall.co.uk/ to replace the original produced in 2008. Eden Vauxhall and Eden Chevrolet is a joint venture between Graeme Potts and Vauxhall Motors and now operates six Retail Centres in Reading, Newbury, Fareham, Exeter and Honiton, as well as a Vauxhall and Ford Aftersales centre in Bracknell.

Eden Vauxhall and Eden Chevrolet are striving to create 'a better world of motoring' for their customers with unparalleled levels of customer service. The new website has been created to reflect the company values by offering customers the very latest in website technology and by communicating the ‘Eden’ brand in parallel with the Vauxhall and Chevrolet brands. The 'Eden' name has become widely recognized within the communities in which it operates, having earned a reputation for high levels of service and customer satisfaction.

The first striking new feature of the site is the use of bright, colour coded partitioning which allows easier navigation of the site and the ability for customers to recognize in which area they are currently located (New, Used, Vans, Service etc.) at-a-glance. Each regional Retail Centre offers timely, local promotions via a dedicated Dealer home page; such offers are communicated by large, highly visible, interchangeable banners. Then there are the ‘mega menus’ which guide the customer through an easy-to-use, well designed interactive experience. As the customer travels through the site, call-to-action prompts are always available in prominent positions with contact details and side tabs offering ‘Book a Service’ and ‘Book a Test Drive’ options.

Eden’s 275+ Used Car stock is the key focus of the website and naturally this area that has been improved the most.  The addition of a ‘sticky’ menu at the base of every page for quick retrieval of cars that customers have saved into their ‘garage’ or previously viewed during their visit is a very popular feature. There is also a ‘Quick View’ function for every vehicle, which allows customers to access the key info and imagery for any car straight from the search page without having to navigate away, while a ‘Lifestyle Search’ feature allows customers to display cars by vehicle type as an alternative to the traditional method of searching by make and model.  Although the new website is launched, there are plans to further develop interesting features such as searching by monthly finance budget, New car review videos and webchat facilities.

Graeme Potts, Managing Director concluded ‘This website offers a completely new interactive experience for the customer. In this day and age, there is no merit in offering a ‘run-of-the-mill’ service. A forward thinking company such as ours needs to lead the way, and we have done this with the help of Progress Automotive Solutions; the website developers who work solely in the automotive industry thereby offering real value and experience. In order to compete at the highest level we need to delight our customers from the very first touch point – which is usually the website. I am confident that our new offering will deliver both an excellent, customer-centric online service and a fantastic business result.’

Branding and Social Media: Should car dealers be looking at Twitter and Facebook? Special report from Alex Knight - Internet Operations Manager

Interesting statistics have been published recently from Digital Surgeons on the social demographic breakdown of the top two social networking websites Facebook and Twitter. While the data is predominantly sourced in the US, the profiling of the usage and brand loyalty on these social giants is equally valid in the UK market, and it’s fair to assume that if UK car dealers choose to ignore what many of them view as an expensive branding exercise to a young audience, they could be missing out on a huge opportunity to engage and ultimately sell to today’s web-savvy customers.

In terms of visibility and potential audience, the stats are not too surprising – nearly 90% of all people surveyed knew of both Facebook and Twitter. What is really eye-opening is the age and economic breakdown we can infer from the 600+ million site users. Dispelling the image of it being a youth-dominated network, in actual fact 89% of Facebook’s users are old enough to drive (and therefore buy!) a car. That same figure is a staggering 96% of Twitterers!

In terms of customer buying power and economic segmentation, 53% of Facebook and 50% of Twitter users are on an income of £30,000 or more (with 34% of Facebook and 33% of Twitter users on £15-30,000). So in reality, you are looking at about 90% of the social networkers out there being able to afford a new car. But will they buy one, or will they even bother to look at or like your brand pages?

In short, yes they will…with 4 in 10 Facebook and 1 in 4 Twitter users following a brand, the opportunity is there to get your business and brand out to the UK or world, and more importantly for it to be viewed, liked, posted, shared and tweeted by a good proportion of your market. What’s really remarkable is the loyalty to those brands that the social networkers are displaying – 67% of Twitter and 51% of Facebook users who follow that brand will go on to purchase from that particular brand!

The other really insightful statistic we can draw from this survey is the rise and rise of the mobile device as a web accessing tool, and the importance therefore of catering specially for these browsers by optimising the mobile experience of websites. A third (30% FB, 37% Twitter) of users surveyed accessed the social networks from their phone, so you can bet your bottom dollar that they will also be browsing other websites from their phone too. Are you showing your website in a suitable format for mobile devices? This report says you need to be.

So what does all this tell us? Well, in short, you should be thinking about getting on both Twitter and Facebook sooner rather than later, as they are both potential sales avenues that are consistently performing for other brands and businesses. 90% of the public know of the sites, 90% of them are old enough and earning enough to get your product, and should they start following your page, over half of them will buy from you! The stats say it all really…it’s now down to how you manage your presence, their experience and what you can offer them as reward for their loyalty.

 

Progress can offer website development (mobile ready and PC), social media  and internet advertising services. Get in touch for more information.

Alex Knight

Internet Operations Manager