To Infiniti and Beyond
Premium car firm debuts a new tablet-based app designed to simplify and speed up the purchase and delivery process, with studies showing customer satisfaction is higher during an efficient purchase experience.
Infiniti announced today that the company has developed and launched an innovative retail sales and service app for its retailers, ICAR-X (Infiniti Client Acquisition and Retention Experience), that streamlines the car-buying process.
ICAR-X, a newly developed software tool, enables Infiniti retailers to deliver a more efficient and premium sales experience using cutting-edge mobile technology. ICAR-X is designed to minimize known client “pain points,” system redundancies and significantly speed up the car-buying process, thereby improving client satisfaction and the overall experience.
The most critical aspect of the dealership experience is the time clients spend in store, and according to an Auto-trader Dealer Sourcing Study, customer satisfaction is at its highest within the first 90 minutes on the day of purchase. However, that number begins declining once time spent goes beyond 1.5 hours. At 2.5 hours, satisfaction drops below a buyers’ average level of satisfaction.
This fact has also been evidenced according to the J.D. Power 2014 U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) Study, which further clarifies that the customer satisfaction begins to drop significantly after just two hours spent at the dealership.
“The total amount of time spent during the sales process is a critical driver of client satisfaction,” said Jon Finkel, global director of Infiniti Client Experience. ”Infiniti developed ICAR-X to eliminate many of the redundancies and inefficiencies inherent in today’s vehicle purchase process that typically frustrate clients. ICAR-X will lead the way to fundamentally change the car buying and selling process and set a new benchmark in luxury retail client service.”
Historically, Infiniti has helped to move the automotive industry forward as a customer-oriented company, and during the brand’s launch in 1989, it introduced the then-revolutionary client experience program, the “Infiniti Total Ownership Experience®.” This program was first to provide service loan cars and roadside assistance to Infiniti owners under the basic New Vehicle Limited Warranty period, and it further expanded to provide the Infiniti Personal Assistant.
Seeking to further enhance the client experience, ICAR-X is Infiniti’s next step in luxury offerings while once again revolutionizing the sales experience and retaining premium loyalty.
Infiniti is the first automotive brand to develop a retailer and client facing application that fully integrates the sales and service experience to significantly reduce the time spent at a dealership, which is intended to increase overall client satisfaction. In fact, according to the Autotrader study, 72 percent of those polled would visit a dealership if the process was significantly improved.
