Going to test drive a car at a dealership usually means that you're serious about buying a new car, however, this experience can be extremely intimidating, especially if you know that a dealer is just trying to make a sale. As part of a new, more relaxed kind of car test drive experience, Pennsylvania's Cherry Hill Mall teamed up with GoMoto for a three-month partnership offering a full car showroom within the mall.
In a spacious area of the mall, the autos are set up so that people can get up close with them. Since people are curious about how a new car will fit into their particular lifestyle, GoMoto founder Ben Catanese even remarks that "I have a set of golf clubs they can test out," so that people can see how well they'd fit in the trunk. Outside of the mall, people can give 30 different cars a test drive.
As much as this experience is meant to increase interaction with prospective customers, Catanese remarks that "We're not here to sell cars. We're reducing the amount of time spent going from dealer to dealer to test-drive and research vehicles."
In-Mall Car Showrooms
Pennsylvania's Cherry Hill Mall is a New Place to Test Drive a Car
Trend Themes
1. Relaxed Car Test Drive Experience - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Creating a more relaxed and customer-friendly environment for car test drives can enhance the overall car buying experience.
2. Car Showrooms in Non-traditional Locations - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Bringing car showrooms to non-traditional locations like malls allows car dealerships to reach a wider audience and increase customer engagement.
3. Integration of Test Drive and Research - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Combining the test drive and research process in one location eliminates the need for customers to visit multiple dealerships, making it more convenient and efficient.
Industry Implications
1. Automotive Dealerships - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Automotive dealerships can adopt the concept of in-mall car showrooms to enhance the car buying experience and increase customer interaction.
2. Mall and Retail Industry - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Malls can partner with car dealerships to offer in-mall car showrooms as a unique attraction, boosting foot traffic and enhancing the shopping experience.
3. Technology and Software Solutions - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Technology companies like GoMoto can develop software solutions to streamline the test drive and research process, providing a seamless customer experience.