A global survey by Accenture found out that the consumers were turning to a variety of online and offline services to help them make their car-buying decisions because industry websites fail to satisfy their needs.

The survey of 13,000 drivers in 11 countries revealed that consumers felt the car-buying process would be simpler and quicker if the contents on auto industry websites were customized.

The contents ought to be more relevant to consumer-specific car-buying preferences and if the industry adopted such online innovations as web chat and mobile-enabled websites, which are used widely in other retailing sectors.

According to the survey, most respondents (88 per cent) also want easier and clearer pricing to help expedite the car-buying process. Car buyers were found to be open to post-sales activities such as loyalty program memberships and enrollment in maintenance plans.

Of the survey respondents, who said they research their car purchases online before buying a vehicle, 78 per cent visit at least six websites or more first. Fifteen per cent disclosed they needed to browse more than 20 websites to get the information they sought. In addition, 75 per cent declared they still turned to more traditional offline media for the information required to make a car-buying decision.

Accenture said the findings demonstrated a lack of integrated digital marketing among manufacturer and dealer sites in the automotive industry.

>jayanta.mallick@thehindu.co.in

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