Today's service customers are used to convenience. Everything from detergent to diapers can be delivered to their doorsteps, sometimes within hours. This trend is expanding to every segment of the retail industry — including automotive — and will only continue.
On Amazon.com, it's easy to order vehicle maintenance with a couple of clicks. The mechanic will come to your home to complete the service: tire installation, oil changes, brake pads. This program is in its infancy, but Amazon has shown it knows how to disrupt markets. And now it's making its way into retail auto service.
Service revenue is critical to dealerships to cover operating costs. As service sales are predicted to decline because of ride-sharing and subscription models, fixed ops revenue will likely be affected. It is time to prepare your dealership to combat the disrupters and shore up future revenue opportunities.
In the past, you could count on consumers buying vehicles every three years or so. As new technology expands and cars and trucks last longer, that purchase interval is constantly increasing. Fewer new-car sales mean that dealerships must depend more on service revenue.
How do dealerships do that? By offering customers the same convenience as Amazon and others who are winning this competition.