Car retailing
If there was ever an industry vulnerable to technological change, it would have to be selling cars in America. For decades a franchise network made up of thousands of dealers has peddled ordinary cars as though they were exotic goods in a Moroccan souk. Each dealer seems to have his own opaque pricing scheme, consumers have to endure endless haggling and the financing is murky at best. Small wonder, then, that the shifty car salesman has became such a stereotype.
A decade ago a few brave souls tried to use the emerging power of the internet to modernise this fragmented and frustrating business. Scott Painter, a Californian entrepreneur, founded Cars Direct in an attempt to sell vehicles direct to consumers online. But the business failed to work as he had hoped, and he eventually left the company.
Hope springs eternal, at least where the internet is concerned. This week Mr. Painter is launching Zag, his latest attempt to modernise automobile retailing using the internet. His first big customer is Capital One, a financial giant that is one of the countrys biggest providers of car loans. Meanwhile, Auto Nation, the countrys largest car retailer , is launching Smart Choice, its own internet marketing scheme, in June.
So is the time finally ripe? Glenn Mercer of McKinsey, a consultancy, believes that internet sales efforts, even fixed price schemes, will not save customers much money because the internet firms by law cannot buy cars directly from manufacturers; they must get them from dealers. Brian Reed of Capital One retorts: Its true, we may not offer the lowest price but we will offer a fair price with a lot less pain.
But the pain is not always so easy to escape. Visit many online sites to research a car, and they will sell your name immediately to local dealerships which will then harass you in the old fashioned way.
Still, there are reasons to think that conditions may finally be favoring online sales. J.D. Power and Associates, a research firm, reckons that two thirds of new car customers use the internet for research, up from a quarter in 1998. Auto Nation reports that car sales originating on the internet have increased from 14% of its total in 2002 to about a quarter last year. Because price transparency is squeezing margins, argues Sid De Boer of Lithia, one of the countrys biggest car retailers, dealers are now desperate to find ways that the internet can help them. He is convinced that online sales of new cars will soar from nothing to a quarter of Lithias total within a decade.
So will all this mean the death of the salesman? Do not count on it says Mike Jackson, the boss of Auto Nation. His firm has already cut in half the time taken to buy a car, and it wants to cut it in half again by automating various bits of paperwork. But Mr. Jackson is convinced that consumers will always want to kick the tyres on their new car, before they sign on the dotted line: Well put the distasteful parts online, and leave the fun part-its like going to a candy store.
GMAT写作经典开头总结
GMAT考试详细介绍
如何写出结构清晰的GMAT作文
GMAT写作常用的15条公理
寻找GMAT逻辑因果联系的方法
GMAT作文机经 游乐园换slogan
无需为综合推理部分感到担心
GMAT写作模板句型
GMAT综合推理四大题型形式解析
对GMAT考试写作满分的提示
GMAT作文机经 开pizza和golf club
GMAT写作速度速升法
2013年GMAT综合推理部分常见问题
GMAT综合推理部分的重要性
GMAT作文机经 连锁饭店收购小餐馆
揭秘GMAT 综合推理
新版GMAT 增综合推理,取消论说文
GMAT作文黄金题
GMAT综合推理的成绩从10月11日起将出现在非正式成绩单上
GMAT作文机经 建bio公司
备战2015GMAT写作:考场上如何预估作文字数
备战2015GMAT不能少的写作论证例句
斯坦福大学对IR的说明
GMAT写作考试的一些技巧
GMAT写作有没有字数要求
GMAT作文机经 咖啡店网页
GMAT:Integrated Reasoning (IR)解析
GMAT写作高频话题:媒体责任与个人隐私
GMAT作文模板使用的七大忌
GMAT IR逐个击破
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |