Kerri Wise: Websites Are Not An Extension Of The Dealership Anymore

Kerri Wise, Chief Marketing Officer at AutoFi, took the stage at David Kain's Digital Success Workshop to share how car dealers can merge their website and showroom experience. 

Starting her presentation with real-world examples of companies that have deployed successful digital retail solutions, Kerri explained that DR tools aren't here to replace salespeople. 

Starbucks, Mcdonald's, Whole Foods, Kroger, and several others have demonstrated a way to integrate a digital experience with an in-person experience. 

Just because large retailers are making their products and services more accessible does not mean killing in-person interactions. Yet, that's how dealers need to think about digital retail tools. 

When vendors first introduced websites to the retail automotive industry, the explanation was that they were an online extension of the dealership showroom. Fast forward 20 years, and Kerri suggests that we need to flip that around. "It's now that your dealership is an extension of the website."