The Auto Trader Click Awards are an annual ceremony now into their 10th year. The awards recognise “digital excellence”, and represent a real benchmark for the rest of the Automotive industry. This year we are delighted to announce that two websites produced by the Bluesky Interactive design team received these prestigious awards - HR Owen won “Digital Retailer of the Year” and JCT600 scooped the “Best Digital Customer Experience” award!
Well firstly, Auto Trader Sales director Le Etta Pearce, gives their view: ““Today’s car buyers are savvier than ever before, and they’re looking for exceptional customer experiences online that match the in-store experience. By adopting best digital practice, and representing the very best of the automotive retail sector, this year’s winners aren’t simply meeting their customers’ expectations, they’re exceeding them.”
In short, both of these websites are acres ahead of the competition, helping them to stand out in an increasingly competitive marketplace. This becomes even more important when we consider the fact that the new car market is currently in a challenging place – standing out and driving the highest number of leads possible is vital in maintain business performance in difficult times!
A quick glance at the two websites shows that both of them make a dramatic impact.
HR Owen utilises the strength of their exceptional brand catalogue to keep their homepage simple and paired back, with bold full-screen imagery and easy clickable brand links. On mobile, it adapts to meet customer’s expectations with a simple menu and engaging scrollability.
Deeper in, the website has had advanced SEO work by HR Owen’s specialists to make sure that Google-searching customers are directed to the most relevant sub section of the website - something that boosts the ease of the customer journey and probably contributed to the consumer research ratings that go towards this award. Serving the same purpose, the stylish “mega menu” helps you find new and used cars from your favourite models, whilst the other pages focus on simplicity and transparency, avoiding customer getting lost or confused.
JCT600 too focuses on large, eye-catching imagery, but their homepage’s key focus is upon the cutting edge SuperSearch. Click the button in the middle and consumers find themselves using an super-fast and snappy search module that has been heavily optimised to work just as fast for mobile visitors. It’s dramatic, with live-updates and a truly versatile search functionality.
The rest of the site continues with mobile focus, being full responsive to work on all devices. More usefully, every aspect is tested and designed with customers in mind, making it one of the most data-driven sites in the field. Take, for example, the service booking form, which replaces the traditionally convoluted dealer form with a simpler journey that acknowledges user behaviour and delivers more leads.
Do you see something in these websites that you like, and that you’d like to see on your website? Contact us today to see how we can help!