A majority of younger car owners would prefer to use a self-service kiosk than speak to a service advisor when checking their car in for aftersales work, research has found.
A survey commissioned by self-service technology company Tjekvik revealed that 71% of those aged 25 to 34 and 60% of those 18 to 24 would favour a self-service option, compared with 35% of UK car owners generally.
When asked why they would favour a self-service check-in, 43% of respondents cited avoiding queues, while 31% cited greater flexibility around vehicle drop-off and collection times and 18% said they thought it would give them more time to provide information and select options.
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Only 7% said it was because they did not always feel comfortable speaking with aftersales staff, however this jumped to 50% among respondents aged 18 to 24.
Email communications preferred
Tjekvik’s survey also asked about vehicle owners’ contact preferences regarding scheduled servicing, repairs and dealer updates, and found 67% were happy to be contacted by email, ahead of 48% by SMS, 32% by phone call, 23% by in-app notifications and 15% in person at dealerships and workshops.
As for the types of information they would like to receive by email or SMS about the work being done on their car, 78% wanted to be notified when work on their car was completed, 64% wanted to be told about unexpected or additional repairs required or recommended, 63% wanted collection details and 42% wanted vehicle health check videos.
Martin Nørgaard Høgh, CEO at Tjekvik, said: “Digital solutions are playing an increasingly important role in the daily running of dealerships.
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“By combining digital convenience with the expertise of their aftersales teams, dealers can deliver a more flexible and customer-focused experience to a wide range of age groups with varied expectations.”
Tjekvik says that so far this year in the UK and Ireland it has seen a 19% year-on-year increase in customers using its technology to check in vehicles from home, and a 26% increase in use of in-showroom check-in kiosks.