The increasing digitization of the auto sales industry has changed more than just the screens and mediums shoppers’ use to research their next vehicle purchase.

In the recently released Earnst & Young Future of Automotive Retail report, the company contends we are in the midst of an overall automotive retail paradigm shift.

EY broke the five pillars of the paradigm shift down like this:

1. Managing trust and complexity throughout customer life cycle
2. Customizing value propositions
3. Creating an engaging digital experience
4. Redesigning distribution networks
5. Crafting an omni-channel brand management strategy

Last week, we tackled the “omni-channel strategy,” or providing a consistent consumer experience across all digital platforms — mobile sites, websites, advertising and more.

And as the car research process becomes more and more complex, with an increasing number of avenues available for shoppers to research and purchase vehicles, EY asserted dealers and manufacturers now need to spend more time managing trust and staying connected throughout the entire customer life cycle.

“We believe automakers and dealers must focus on transforming the overall customer experience and ultimately develop into a trusted organization,” the report stated. “An integrated customer experience strategy is key to building loyalty, retention, and consequently higher profit margins in sales and aftersales.”

In other words, the auto retail market needs to work toward “interjecting trust-building attributes into every customer interaction.”

To back up this assertion, EY cited telling consumer data. For example, 72 percent or consumers feel that an improved buying process would motivate them to visit dealerships more often. And from a business standpoint, 70 percent of organization believe that an increasing emphasis on customer experience is driving business growth strategies.

What does this mean for dealers? One easy way to look at it is making sure to manage the customer experience across multiple touch points.

EY breaks it down like this:

1. First contact
2. Vehicle research and test drive
3. Vehicle financing
4. Vehicle delivery
5. Warranty and repair
6. Replacement

All of these are critical points in the customer life-cycle that give dealers the opportunity to make contact and create loyal customers.

So, what can automakers and dealers do to improve the customer experience and remain in contact with customers from the research to replacement phase?

EY offers four suggestions. First up, the report suggest auto retail stakeholders should design a customer experience that is consistent with the brand identity and works to create trust through all customer interaction.

Next up is the call to transform processes and systems that impact sales, service, marketing and customer relationship management, in order to “enable a seamless customer experience.

EY also calls the market to manager change and realign incentive structures to focus on trust, or to “drive change management to enable employees to deliver the envisioned customer experience,” the report explained.

Lastly, to adjust to the shifting auto retail market, the EY report says dealers and automakers should focus on key trust drivers, such as authenticity, transparency and consistency.