The Dilawri Group of Companies, the largest dealer group in Canada, has announced a new partnership aimed at completely transforming its digital operations.
Consumers are headed online to purchase their next vehicle the same way they go on Amazon to purchase a new set of headphones or on Expedia to purchase tickets for Paris. The problem is, not all dealerships have paralleled the digital shift operating within their core customer base. The Dilawri Group of Companies, the largest dealership group in Canada with over 70 stores in 5 provinces, has recently undertaken its most ambitious project by initiating what it calls a complete digital transformation.
The Dilawri Group represents every possible brand you could think of. From Acura to BMW to Mercedes-Benz to General Motors to Mitsubishi to Toyota to Porsche to Bentley, name one automaker and the group likely has more than one dealership representing it. What it did not have, however, was an online infrastructure that reflected the scale of its brick-and-mortar enterprise.
“This is a very important step for us”, says David Boots, Director of National Operations at Dilawri Group of Companies. “This partnership will usher in a new era of online marketing and retailing, and it was important for us to work with an agency that could provide every service we needed, from the initial website optimization to digital advertising to SEO to social media management”.
Already working with over 600 clients across Canada and even in the U.S., 360.Agency was responsible for the first fully online automotive e-commerce website launch back in 2017 when Chambly Honda in Quebec went online. It was and still is the first automotive platform to give buyers the ability to complete their purchase from start to finish without having to set foot inside the dealer; even going as far as taking deposits via credit card on the website directly.
It is this type of innovation as well as the sheer number of digital products offered by 360.Agency that convinced Dilawri.
“We were very thorough in our selection process and completed an expansive review of the digital solution space in Canada and the United States to make sure we work with the right team. 360.Agency has become one of the premier digital solutions providers in Canada, and through our discussions we quickly realized that we shared the same vision about the marketplace and the future of automotive online commerce” added Mr. Boots.
For Louis-Yves Cloutier, CEO and Co-founder of 360.Agency, this new partnership is further indication of a changing automotive retailing landscape for retailers, consumers, suppliers, and manufacturers.
“Our mission from the very beginning was to revolutionize the way people buy cars. Today, we realize that automakers and retailers have the same vision as well. We work with our partners like Dilawri Group of Companies to consolidate their digital solutions and products and provide every possible service needed for an effective and sustainable online to offline strategy”, Mr. Cloutier says.
The first step will be the complete redesign of the group’s websites which will begin this summer and should be completed this fall. The next phase will be the implementation of various SEO and digital marketing solutions tailored to the needs of each individual dealership.
