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It should come as no surprise by now that the way people buy cars is changing, with customers seeking more online information than ever before to help make their purchase decisions. 95% of vehicle buyers* turn to digital sources for their research, and indeed to start the buying journey. In fact, reports show that customers take an average of 14 hours and 48 minutes researching a vehicle online before making the decision on what (and where) to purchase, visiting just 4 websites* in that time. As a result, the automotive industry needs to adapt quickly to the fast-changing landscape. Luckily, there are a number of digital specialists who provide excellent Android and iPhone automotive apps for today’s digital-savvy dealers.
These automotive apps are packed with lead generation and sales tools developed specifically for dealers. Available on both iPhone and Android, these are some of the best digital assets on the market. Not only do they help you deliver the information your customers are looking for in record time, they also improve efficiencies through professional templates and automation. From high quality media and communication gadgets, to valuations at the touch of a button, the best automotive apps for iPhone and Android make it all available from the palm of your hand. We’ve tried and tested a whole range of the best car sales apps for iPhone, and the best automotive apps for Android respectively. Our top three can be found on both platforms, and you can find our thoughts and recommendations below.
SnapCell
Before the birth of SnapCell, CEO and Director, Brent Williams, recognized a need for better video communication within the industry. After spending years leading sales teams within dealerships, Brent knew that being able to create and send vehicle walkaround and technician videos could revolutionize how dealers used digital tools to drive revenue streams. These videos would provide customers with the information they craved and sought in a new, ultra-fast, and highly personable way. But there were still gaps in the manual way that videos were created and sent, and so SnapCell was born.
As one of the best automotive apps for Android and iPhone out there, SnapCell enables dealers to quickly and easily create, edit, and send service and walkaround videos with just a few clicks. Videos are sent directly to the customer’s inbox either by email or SMS, creating and encouraging a friendly dialogue, whilst building trust and customer rapport at the same time.
Your customers are already using video – in fact, over 75%* of car buyers said that video directly influenced their purchases. More to the point, 64%* of those buyers agreed that formats like 360 walkarounds would convince them to buy, even without a test drive. With SnapCell, you can engage your audience via a preferred channel that is proven to increase conversion.
It’s not just high-quality walkarounds that you can create and deliver with SnapCell though. You can also capture powerful virtual test drives, technician videos that don’t leave out any of the details, and even sales-driving 360 spin displays that highlight every feature. You can even hold a live, two-way chat with your customers.
What’s more, you can also take advantage of a myriad of inbuilt, intuitive digital tools, like stop-start recording and easy editing. Recent addition, SnapCell Live, is our comprehensive car dealer video streaming software. From Instagram Reels to Facebook Live, we’ve made taking your dealership to your customers even easier. Whether you need to walk a customer around a vehicle in person, or answer a specific question about performance or a feature, we’ve developed the tools to make the entire process virtual. Customers can really get to grips with a vehicle without even having to leave their sofa. The release comes at a perfect time, with many customers continuing to feel some uncertainty around leaving their homes during the pandemic.
NADA MarketValues
For over eighty years, the NADA Used Car Guide has earned a reputation as one of the leading providers of market-reflective vehicle valuation products. All of their expertise and experience has been poured into the NADA MarketValues app, which is available on both iPhone and Android app stores.
NADA MarketValues provides its users with unlimited lookups by VIN scan or make and model, providing valuable data that a standard VIN decode can’t. This advanced automotive app also harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to predict the demand and value of specific models in your localized marketplace. This enables you to make informed buying and inventory decisions, ultimately boosting the profitability of your business.
There are two core aspects to the app. Firstly, you gain full access to the NADA Used Car Guide, which provides weekly NADA auction values and monthly trade-in, loan and retail appraisals. The guide is renowned for its consistency and accuracy, and provides a constantly updated overview of the current market in depth. You get unlimited lookups by either by VIN scan or make and model.
The other part of the offering, AuctionNet, partners with the National Auto Auction Association (NAAA) to provide a fantastic source of wholesale vehicle sales data. More than 500,000 new records are added each month, accounting for and covering more than 80% of the US auction activity. The data is made up of real-world transactions from all Manheim and ADESA auctions, as well as participating ABC, ServNet, and independent operations. For a top-down view of the market, you also benefit from eight weeks of rolling data available on demand. With access to over 200 million VINs, vehicle description and appraisal accuracy comes part and parcel with this automotive app.
Every appraisal you complete via the app is saved via Appraisal Snapshots, for editing or future use. The e-mail export function also enables you to share any appraisal via your contacts with just a few simple clicks. The NADA MarketValues app is available to all NADA and NIADA member dealers.
Gubagoo
Gubagoo offer a range of communication products designed around Live Chat. It integrates seamlessly with your website as well as Facebook and Messenger, and enables your dealership to stay open 24/7. It delivers a complete car buying experience where prospective customers can browse your inventory and interact with a real person (as opposed to a bot), using any device, and at any time of the day.
ChatSmart by Gubagoo is considered one of the most advanced live chat automotive apps available. Not only does it make it easy for your customers to connect to your business outside of usual operating hours, but it’s also been shown to boost conversion and improve the overall customer experience you provide.
The chat professionals manning the screens and chat boxes at Gubagoo have extensive industry expertise, and can share products, vehicle details, and applicable dedicated web pages with the customer. They can also push authorized incentives to customers in-chat to increase conversion. Gubagoo proactively “meet and greet” visitors to your website, and build a dialogue based on behaviour. The useful, sales-driving information they provide has been shown to improve conversion by over 14%.
The chat professional aims to collect customer contact details which can be shared with your dealership. This proves particularly useful during the hours that your dealership is closed. You also have the option to take over the chat at any time, using the app, to provide an even more personal experience.
In fact, harvesting and storing the right data is another feature Gubagoo take seriously. All of the individual leads gathered by Gubagoo can be viewed easily, across all of the Gubagoo services your dealership uses. You also benefit from a complete record of your entire history of chats and transcripts. There are even interactive, at-a-glance graphs to provide a clear view of your dealership’s performance, giving you a clear indication of the ROI being delivered.
Summary
The best automotive apps for iPhone just happen to also be the best automotive apps for Android. Like many of the most useful and reliable tools, they are multipurpose – and in this case, multiplatform!
Digital tools that help dealers make more money and deliver a better customer experience is definitely SnapCell’s field of expertise. If you would like to know more about our thoughts on these apps or others you might be considering, we’d be extremely happy to share them with you. And if you’d like to know more about how SnapCell can revolutionise how you communicate and engage with your customers, get in touch with a member of the team today.
*Think with Google
