The Automotive Conference & Expo (ACE) opens today at the Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, Ont., where dealers and their teams had the opportunity to network, sit in on a range of speaker presentations, and enjoy the ACE kickoff party featuring Canadian rock icon Kim Mitchell.
“It’s the biggest trade show and automotive conference in Canada. We are humbled,” said Todd Bourgon, TADA’s Executive Director in an interview at the event. “We have well over 200 dealers in attendance, that’s exactly what we were striving for, so we are really happy.”
Day one of the event began with a discussion from Doug Stephens, Retail Futurist at Retail Prophet, about the future of selling in a post-digital world.
Stephens offered dealers a cautionary tale about not recognizing the signs in the changing retail landscape. He said Blockbuster dismissed Netflix as a niche business.
He said Amazon is building its own delivery fleet, putting lockers in apartment buildings, and doing everything it can to enable e-commerce — which is growing dramatically.
“Where does this escalation of e-commerce end?” he asks. We are just getting started, he says. “We have a long, long way to go. We are sitting on the threshold of a number of technologies that when they combine, and realize their full potential, will have a staggering effect on consumers.”
With 50% of car purchases now starting online, he says the willingness for consumers to complete the transaction online is growing, fueled by the notion of frictionless commerce, where people get what they want when they want it with no technology gaps.
One thing dealers can do, he says, is develop a loyalty or membership program with their customers. “I encourage every business I am speaking with these days to to develop a membership program of some kind,” says Stephens. “You can intensify your relationship with your customers.”
Stephens says some question whether dealerships have a future, but he says he feels they will. He says people still enjoy the shopping experience, and even pure-play online companies are recognizing the need to open bricks and mortars facilities. “I am a firm believer that there is still tremendous value in physical experiences,” he says. “But we have to realize the store is now everywhere.”
But he says dealers need to reevaluate the purpose of their store, adding that most dealerships haven’t fundamentally changed in decades. “Not much has changed from the 1920s,” said Stephens.
Other speakers include Kelly Osborne, Exec. Admin of Auto IQ Network of Dealerships, who will explore remarketing auction trends, and Kevin Gordon, CEO of Convertus, will look at how dealers can use data to sell more cars.
The other speakers of the day include Erik Nachbahr, President and Founder of Helion; Huw Williams, Director of Government Relations for CADA; Kevin Baumgart, Vice-President of Business Development at Hireology; Peter Mansbridge, former Chief Correspondent at CBC’s The National, and many more.
Canadian auto dealer is on site covering the event, which is run jointly by the Trillium Automobile Dealers Association (TADA) and Consolidated Dealers.
