It’s no secret that today’s consumers love convenience. They appreciate it as part of the shopping and buying experience and practically demand that it be part of the actual purchase and payment process. While modern payment solutions historically offered businesses a competitive advantage, these innovations are no longer negotiable. They’re now an expected functionality and directly impact the profitability of your dealership.
Convenience to Consumers
While the rest of the retail world has already adopted innovations that make it easier for consumers to pay, the auto industry is lagging. Many dealers still force consumers into antiquated payment processing methods that involve extra paperwork and require the consumer to be present.
Whether paying for parts, service, F&I products, or just making a down payment on a new or used vehicle purchase, today’s consumers want better options. They want dealers to send digital service invoices via text or email, so they can see exactly what they’re paying for. They want the option to pay for these services remotely or finance them over time with just a few taps on their phone—without having to go through a time-consuming approval process.
When consumers are present for a transaction, they want fast, easy point-of-sale payment options and contactless payment methods. Basically, anything that makes paying easier for consumers just makes good business sense for dealers. Besides, modern consumers won’t have it any other way.
Convenience to Dealerships
Consumers aren’t the only ones to benefit from more modern payment methods. Above and beyond the benefits that come with giving consumers the payment options they expect, dealers benefit by digitizing invoices and processing payments electronically. Specifically, modern payment solutions save work, save time, and save money.
- Save Work: A dealership’s back-office staff spends hours upon hours processing and delivering accounts receivable statements. By incorporating modern payment solutions, dealers can deliver digital accounts receivable statements, eliminating manual accounting practices along with sending and receiving payments through the mail.
- Save Time: With modern payment solutions, dealers can send payment requests via email or text and receive payments electronically, speeding up the time it takes to process and receive payments which reduces dealership costs.
- Save Money: By streamlining invoice and payment processing (and delivering the flexible payment options consumers expect), dealerships eliminate inefficiencies and pave the way for more profitable transactions.
Convenient payment options are an expected part of your business in the minds of consumers and an essential part of your dealership’s profitability. By updating your payment processes to incorporate more modern solutions, you can digitize and optimize your back-office work, while taking full advantage of the many benefits (to you and modern consumers) that convenient payment solutions afford.