CarShop turns to mplsystems for end-to-end retail CRM and multi-channel contact solution

CarShop, the UK Car Supermarket Group, has selected mplsystems to provide an integrated CRM and multi channel contact system to support its nationwide sales operation. The new solution will integrate customer contacts from across CarShop's multiple online, web chat, email, phone and face-to-face channels to provide a joined-up car buying experience for customers.

CarShop to support its nationwide sales operation with multi-channel customer contact solution from mplsystems.

CarShop has up to 4,000 cars in stock that can be searched and reserved online ready for viewing at one of the company's five showrooms located in Cardiff, Doncaster, Northampton, Norwich and Swindon. Initial customer inquiries, whether by phone, web chat or email – will be handled through a central mplsystems solution in Doncaster that aggregates customer contacts and shares leads with sales staff at CarShop's stores. Having a record of each customer's search and viewing requests means that CarShop sales staff will be ready to provide an efficient, personalised response by phone, chat or when customers visit a showroom. In addition, understanding how each customer interacts with the business across multiple channels will provide intelligent insight for marketing - to effectively manage the customer journey, understand the effectiveness of campaigns and optimise future marketing projects.

"CarShop had previously deployed a number of standalone telephony, online and web chat systems to support customer leads, but the results tended to be disjointed and didn't provide our customers with the kind of stress-free process we were looking for," commented Leo Nelson, Marketing Director at CarShop. "We knew we needed a more joined up approach that would provide both better support for customers, as well as a more comprehensive CRM solution to deliver an improved customer experience and maximise retention rates.

"The mplsystems integrated desktop will enable CarShop to blend the digital and physical, creating a much more joined up process to strengthen the relationship between our customers and the brand," added Leo. "When a customer walks into one of our stores they are simply able to pick up from where they left from any previous interaction, whether that be on our website, Contact Centre, or Service Centre. The link is unbroken.

"Generation Y may not be buying cars in large numbers today, but they will be very soon and we have to be ready to meet their expectations as well as catering for our more established customer base. We view the changing automotive retail landscape as a new opportunity for the future of our business. Digital technology is a key part of our strategy, but we also recognise that our people are still the key ingredient. Executed correctly, digital technology is able to stitch together our virtual and physical environment to deliver a great experience for our customers when completing such an important purchase," he continued.

"With more and more customers researching online before buying a car it was essential for CarShop to gain a more integrated, single view of its customer engagement activities, with a seamless exchange of information across its multiple channels," added Paul White, CEO at mplsystems. "Thanks to the flexibility of our Customer Engagement technology we have been able to build a customised CRM and lead tracking solution for CarShop that combines critical channel information via a bespoke desktop interface providing staff with all the information they need to make buying a car as easy as possible. CarShop's new solution will also provide a powerful CRM platform to further support customers with appropriate added value financing and servicing options.

mplsystems provides organisations with a solution to manage the entire retail journey, helping retailers to make the transition from individual, channel-specific customer service to a more unified and personalised experience. mplsystems' retail solutions combine key technologies including an integrated multi-channel contact centre, a mashup approach for Big Data, CRM and back-office integration, and a customisable unified agent desktop.