Car Shopping of the Future

Online shopping has been around for quite some time, and has been growing significantly over the past couple of years, with more and more retailers becoming increasingly aware of the endless possibilities the Internet can provide in terms of expanding their customer base and the ability to set foot in new markets. The benefits of online shopping are pretty well known, and companies in various industries are taking advantage of it, with one notably exception. The automotive industry is one of the rare sectors that hasn't adopted online shopping, with dealerships still hesitating to sell cars over the Internet, so the process of buying a new car hasn't evolved like the process of buying just about any other product you can imagine.

One of the reasons why consumers haven't been able to buy a new car online in the past has been the strong opposition from car dealers, who have been lobbying pretty hard for state laws that prohibit car companies to sell vehicles directly to consumers, which would practically put them out of business. There are strict laws that regulate car sales, allowing dealerships to have a monopoly over sales of new cars, which affects both car manufacturers and car buyer.

Car companies would gladly avoid the middleman and start selling vehicles directly to consumers, as it would help reduces expenses, by eliminating the need to distribute their vehicles to dealerships across the country, which is a significant part of their operating costs. Also, customers would benefit greatly if these laws were abolished, since including dealerships in the car sales process increases the price of each car by at least a couple of thousands of dollars.

Be that as it may, there are a few car companies that are considering creating online services, allowing customers to buy cars over the Internet. For instance, General Motors has started the so-called Shop-Click-Drive program, which even though doesn't take dealers out of the picture, allows buyers to order a car online, get an estimate of the trade-in value for their old car, and make an appointment for a test drive. This way, dealerships are still included in the process, which means that state franchise laws are not broken, but buyers don't have to go to an actual dealership, negotiate over the price, having to listen to a dealer convincing you to add certain features to your car, which is quite annoying and takes a lot of time.

Another example of how online car sales could work is Tesla's model, which doesn't use dealerships to sell its cars, but offers them online, instead. Customers can order a Model S and pay for it online, and have it delivered to you, which is definitely very convenient and saves you a lot of time. Tesla also has retail stores around the country, with a couple of their vehicles on display, where people can get information about the cars' specifications and performances, and learn about how electric cars work and what the benefits of owning an electric cars are. However, some states don't allow Tesla to open boutique dealerships on their territory, and are obeying state franchise laws.

The auto industry clearly has a long way to go before it can catch up with the entertainment or the publishing industry, where companies do a lot of their transactions online, but it's bound to happen at some point, as the needs of the modern day car buyers have changed quite a bit over the years, and they are not that keen on visiting a car dealership, spending hours on negotiation, but want a more straightforward approach, that allows them to buy a car the same way they can buy a book or a smartphone, by clicking a few buttons on a car maker's website from the comfort of their home.