Leveraging the mobile phone is a must because a growing number of consumers are accustomed to being able to shop for just about every and anything thing online, says Carvoy co-founder and chief executive officer Daniel Yuabov.

“There’s a study that actually shows that more people have a phone versus a computer, and if we were to go back five years ago it would be the opposite,” he said during a phone interview late last month. “What’s benefiting right now in our generation is that everyone has a phone, which is essentially a supercomputer, and we’re on it 24/7.”

The more equipped a dealership is to be able to accept business from mobile devices, the more conversions are made possible, according to Yuabov.

“A lot of dealers still don’t take advantage that they don’t have responsive websites. Thank God, we see an exponential increase in the adaptability for the mobile experience,” he said.

Mobile commerce for millennial consumers

By leveraging the mobile commerce digital retailing that Carvoy Ignite offers, Yuabov said dealers can provide a shopping experience that millennial consumers are comfortable with, which fosters greater trust of dealerships.

In regards to millennial consumers specifically, Yuabov said “Online car buying is essentially attracting millennials because they are used to buying their groceries online — doing everything online. Why should it stop at trying to buy a car online? Right now, even banks, OEM, dealerships are all trying to leverage the technology to do this because the millennial consumer is actually a huge market and a huge demographic.”

When asked if mobile commerce could be a difference-maker for dealers’ sales in 2018, Yuabov said “dealers who will take advantage, and leverage mobile commerce digital retailing are expected to see a 20-percent increase. If they take advantage of it. If they do it right. It is a big game-changer.”

He added, “Think about it like this: if you’re a consumer, you go on a dealer website, and you’re on this device and you just played around with their site, but the site has nothing to offer you. All they’re offering you is static lead-gen forms, which the dealers are used to. What’s in it for you? That lead-gen is very one-way.”

Yuabov explained that when dealers offer an experience where “you give, but then you get right away,” customers are more willing to convert a visitor from lead to a closed deal.

“Leveraging mobile technology is huge, I would say it’s a game-changer,” he said.