Is GM’s ‘Shop-Click-Drive’ A New Online Sales Initiative?
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General Motors seems to be hard at work on a new initiative to sell cars online, GM Authority has exclusively learned. Called Shop-Click-Drive, the approach is described on the website as “a revolutionary new way to drive home your next Chevrolet“.
The Purpose
According to the Shop-Click-Drive website, which seems to be under construction, recent studies have shown that “a growing number of consumers would like automobile dealers to offer additional online shopping services.” By providing these services, Shop-Click-Drive hopes to “make the shopping experience even better for our customers.”
In that respect, “Shop-Click-Drive combines the convenience of online shopping with the personal service of your neighborhood dealership”, reads the website. “Through participating Chevrolet dealers, you can now shop inventory, select a vehicle, choose from available incentives, obtain a trade-in estimate, apply for financing, and schedule final delivery—all in one convenient place. At any time, you can also request personal assistance to complete your sale or lease.”
The service is described as being “safe and secure”, with the customer being able to ask for help at any stage in the purchase process, “without hassle or pressure”. The service lists the following five easy steps to purchasing and leasing:
- Get Started – Select a vehicle and estimate your trade-in if applicable
- Estimate Payments – See available financing plans and your monthly payment options
- Apply For Credit – Complete your secure and confidential credit application
- Personalize & Protect – Shop for additional vehicle personalization and protection options
- Schedule Delivery – Schedule a trade-in evaluation, test drive, or delivery of your new vehicle
The Dealers
The Shop-Click-Drive website lists the following dealers as participating in the program:
- Art Moehn Chevrolet – Jackson, MI
- Berger Chevrolet – Grand Rapids, MI
- Betten Baker Chevrolet – Coopersville, MI
- Clements Chevrolet Cadillac – Rochester, MN
- Cole Krum Chevrolet – Vicksburg, MI
- Cook Chevrolet – Vassar, MI
- DeNooyer Chevrolet – Kalamazoo, MI
- Jeff Belzer’s Chevrolet – Lakeville, MN
- Robert DeNooyer Chevrolet – Holland, MI
- Friendly Chevrolet – Fridley, MN
- Graff Chevrolet – Okemos, MI
- Heritage Chevrolet – Battle Creek, MI
- Kool Chevrolet – Grand Rapids, MI
- Lupient Chevrolet – Bloomington, MN
- Merit Chevrolet – Maplewood, MN
- Midway Chevrolet – Plainwell, MI
- Rosedale Chevrolet – Roseville, MN
- Sawyers Chevrolet – DeWitt, MI
- Seif Chevrolet Buick – Caledonia, MI
- Shaheen Chevrolet – Lansing, MI
- Shakopee Chevrolet – Shakopee, MN
- Sundance Chevrolet – Grand Ledge, MI
- John Tapper Automotive – Paw Paw, MI
- Team One Chevrolet – Charlotte, MI
- Village Chevrolet – Wayzata, MN
- Burt Watson Chevrolet – Freeland, MI
- Todd Wenzel Chevrolet – Hudsonville, MI
- Wilcox Chevrolet Cadillac – Forest Lake, MN
The Trademark
Further underlining GM’s intent to launch Shop-Click-Drive is a trademark filed by the automaker on September 21, 2012 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The application carries serial number 85734680 and describes its purpose of goods and services as “online ordering services featuring motor vehicles”.
No activity since the filing date has been reported with the USPTO.
The Website
Located at www.shopclickdrive.com, the website for the initiative seems to currently be under construction. The domain was originally registered on February 9, 2012 to Entrega Corporation.
Looking further into Entrega Corporation, we were able to gleam that that the company goes by the legal name of Entrega Systems Group, Inc., and is a provider of various technology services, including website development. Entrega is headquartered in Troy, Michigan and lists General Motors as a client on its Clients page, among Bosch, HoneyBaked, The Hayman Company, and PG&E Corporation, among others.
The GM Authority Take
Shop-Click-Drive seems to be a web portal of sorts commissioned by GM to meet the growing consumer desire of online automotive shopping services. As such, the service seeks to offer the ability to browse inventory and shop for the vehicle of the customer’s choosing — from selecting the vehicle and browsing incentives to getting a trade-in appraisal and applying for financing.
This kind of “one-stop-shop” experience is offered by very few dealers today, most of whom would prefer to transact offline. In addition, dealers aren’t likely to offer up online inventory outside their own on their websites, while the Shop-Click-Drive initiative would — hypothetically — offer the new car inventories (outside of Chevy) of all GM dealerships around the nation (or world?) at one convenient location. If that is indeed the case, then Shop-Click-Drive could be an interesting initiative to further make GM vehicles more attractive to online car shoppers.
We reached out to GM for comment but weren’t successful in getting a reply on a Sunday evening. Stay tuned as we learn more.
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Being a salesman at a large Chevy dealer, this is not a significant change from what’s already offered today. All of this can be accomplished on our website and the majority of dealers nationwide.
I think the focus should more be placed on the dealer’s websites. We are controlled by a third party company and have very little input as to what can be posted. The look is VERY outdated/busy and could be cleaned up quite a bit.
With that said, I think this new site is removing the ability to win a customer over with a good experience. Not all dealers fall into the usual stereotype. I still love impressing people with real customer service which seems to be a lost art.
What do you guys think? Would you rather finalize a purchase at home or the dealer?
Jake, the difference here is that the customer can choose a vehicle from across the country and isn’t limited to any one dealer’s inventory.
That, and can your dealership actually provide the customer a trade-in quote and a finance quote automatically via the website?
This seems to be the point here – a uniform experience that works by itself. Most dealers want to get the customer “in the door” and then “sell them” there. This effort doesn’t care if you “come in” or not.
I would go a step further and have the order go direct to the factory so the vehicle can be made exactly as wanted.
I see no reason why that shouldn’t be possible from a GM-operated property, Whitewolf
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/02/why-you-cant-buy-new-car-online
You can’t buy directly from GM or any other auto manufacturer due to the Dealer Lobby.