Following Monday evening’s announcement which saw the Prime Minister order England into its third national lockdown, many were panicking. But a few local businesses are feeling much calmer this time around.
One of which is CarShop Manchester, a used car store located in Ashton-under-Lyne. The store, which rebranded from The Car People to CarShop in 2019, has reported positive annual sales figures despite the uncertainty that COVID-19 presents.
The store’s Head of Business, Paul Harnett, pins this success down to the retailer’s huge investment in its digital offering – most significantly, around its Click-and-Collect service.
The group worked hard over summer to advance its national Click-and-Collect offering to a much higher degree than what would have been possible in normal years of trading. This was due to the need to offer customers a completely COVID-safe purchasing experience.
It also remodeled this based on the retailer’s thorough research around customer preference – for example, which parts of the car-buying process gave the customers the most, and the least, joy. As a result, CarShop reinvented this service in order to maximise the satisfaction of driving a new car away from the forecourt, and minimise the lengthy paperwork admin in-store.
Customers can now use the Click-and-Collect service to browse models and makes for sale in Manchester – where there are over 700 vehicles – and UK-wide – which gives them access to over 10,000 cars. They can do this from the comfort of their own homes before holding their preferred car online at carshop.co.uk for only £99. This amount can then be fully refunded if they change their mind. Plus, the entire paperwork element of buying a car on finance or part exchange is sorted remotely, in advance.
And, it seems, people are buying into the idea.
Harnett reports: “Myself and the rest of the CarShop Manchester team have seen a really positive response from customers this past year – especially around our Click-and-Collect service and how ‘faff-free’ the process is.”
Nigel Hurley, CEO at CarShop, comments on the retailer’s thought process behind its investment in Click-and-Collect: “When lockdown happened, it removed the opportunity for customers to come in-store and browse so we had to evolve very quickly. We have always offered Click-and-Collect as an option but, previously, it was about reserving the car online and then coming in store for everything else – including the paperwork.
“Now, however, we’ve consciously put a huge emphasis on the enjoyment that comes from buying a car. Customers can be assured of their complete safety, have all the fun of driving off with that new car, without any of the lengthy filling in forms in-store – it’s a win-win.”
