While handheld gadgets such as iPads can dazzle customers, there are alternative solutions. Knights in Stoke has a full Starbucks franchise in the showroom, a move Kia plans to duplicate at its forthcoming flagship West London dealership – just down the road from Audi City. Another Kia centre, Beadles in Coulsdon, South London, is famous for its cakes, brought in fresh every day and available free to customers.

Peter Vardy’s used car superstore in Braehead, Glasgow, has an ice cream van parked in the showroom, plus a huge children’s play area.

Multi-franchise dealer Kinghams of Croydon has been providing free fruit for customers for many years, to the point of knowing which apple variety people like best and that no one wants an orange because peeling it leaves a residue on your fingers.

Another advocate of the more low-tech approach is Tony Whitehorn, MD of Hyundai UK, particularly when it comes to dealership furniture.

“The old-style service counter is a barrier between reception staff and customers,” he said. ”We’re moving away from that and going to circular tables where people can sit down with the customer. And iPads are fine, but not if they’re just being a used as a digital piece of paper.”

One technology the customer is often unaware of, but which can significantly affect the customer experience, is automatic number plate recognition (ANPR).

Such systems have already been introduced at some Mercedes-Benz dealerships, and franchisees with Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover are also planning to add the technology.

By positioning an ANPR camera at the entrance barrier to Mercedes-Benz Birmingham Central that is linked to the centre’s customer database, the dealership can identify an arriving  customer and send a sales

executive or host to greet them as they park. Customers booked into a loan car while their own car is being serviced can even be dealt with without entering the showroom.

 

The ‘no showroom’ showroom

Hyundai is pioneering a sales strategy that doesn’t involve a dealership at all. In a joint venture with digital retailer Rockar, it is offering a service that allows customers to research, test-drive, get a part-exchange value, choose a payment option, purchase and service their new car online.