With customers shopping online more and more, most dealers are already very familiar with the term multi-channel, as the ways shoppers search for cars online are increasing daily, as well as the devices they use.

But a new report from Ernst & Young takes it a step further. The company’s Future of Automotive Retail report contends dealers and automakers need to shift toward an “omni-channel strategy.”

Simply put, although many dealers and automakers are using a multichannel approach, allowing for shoppers to find information about them through difference sources, these sources often provide an inconsistent consumer experience.

To put this problem in perspective, consider this statistic: According to EY data, consumers spend more time for online research per-purchase of a car than for any other product.

And customers these days have the ability to absorb information and engage with companies from a variety of media and devices, and EY said this “needs to reflect in the customer experience and marketing strategies,” of both dealers and automakers.

“Customers want the freedom and flexibility to move between numerous information sources and receive a similar brand experience across all channels. Retailers need to evolve to an omni-channel strategy to deliver a seamless customer experience at every level of the customer life cycle,” the report stated.

Providing this experience is becoming increasingly important day-by-day, as EY data shows that almost half of the consumers surveyed said they would be willing to finance a purchase online, proving that completing the car-buying process completely on the Web may only be a few months or years away.

And automotive customers spend an average of 10 hours online searching for dealership and vehicle information in their car-shopping process. But they aren’t just going to be sitting at a desktop.

According to the report, 80 percent of customers will use multiple devices to research a purchase.

“For automakers, they have an opportunity, for the first time, to not only build a relationship with the customer by leveraging connected vehicles, but also to deliver a rich brand experience through seamless integration across all customer-facing channels,” said Randall Miller, global automotive and transportation sector leader at EY.

And this goes for dealers, too, as 52 percent of new and used-car customers will visit the dealer’s website in the buying process, according to EY data, showing the need for individual dealerships to streamline their online messages, as well.

Beyond the shift toward an omni-channel online environment, there is more at work here in the overall automotive retail paradigm shift.

“Digitization, regulations, evolving customer needs and new competitors necessitate a rethink of the retail model,” the report stated

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

Stay tuned to Auto Remarketing Today as we continued to discuss these topics through the lens of the new EY report.