Given the motor trade’s reputation for middle of the road conservatism and lack of originality in retail presentation, you might be forgiven for expecting more of the same from a used car operation just outside Glasgow belonging to a third generation motor trade grandee. But the Peter Vardy CarStore which opened it’s doors 16 months ago has turned that notion on it’s head, winning industry accolades and thousands of units in sales by being a very different retail experience. To find out more, Motor Trade News spoke to managing Partner Darren Cuthbertson.
Talking about the idea behind the CarStore, Cuthbertson says, “Right from the word go it was always designed and intended to be something that was more fresh and relevant and trying to move the concept of the motor industry on to modernise it a little bit. The whole thing is based around trying to create a real transparent trust with the customer.”
Explaining the way the business differs from most dealerships, Cuthbertson says, “If you don’t have the restraints of a manufacturer telling you what colour the tiles on the floor need to be and what time you need to open, why not have some fun and do what you think is relevant. The word customer is a bit of a banned word, from day one we have had guests, not customers. When you first start talking about guests, it feels a little bit American and a little bit too much. But very quickly you realise that they are guests and we are inviting them in to the cafe and the kids area with iPads, pinball machines, air hockey tables and a big electric car fleet. It’s become a genuine destination, we’ve got an ice cream van in the middle of the showroom where everyone gets free teas and coffee and free ice cream. It brings a bit of fun and if the parents decide to download our app, they can use it to unlock a safe containing secret sauce for the kids ice cream.”
Unlike most car dealerships, where customers can wander in through a number of entrances to then be hunted around the site by sales people, the CarStore has a single point of access, akin to a hotel or theme park registration desk. Cuthbertson explains the benefit of this saying, “We have a check-in process which allows us to measure the number of visitors and the times when we are busiest so we have lots of management Information that enables us to do lots of things from an operational and business perspective. Rather than having a receptionist, we have a team of hosts who will issue you with a pass for entry to the CarStore. So it is more like a day out than a car showroom.”
To add to the experience for guests (customers) Cuthbertson says the CarStore introduce new features to the shop floor which reflect the likely interests of visitors, talking about a recent weekend initiative he says, “This Saturday just gone we had a nail bar, a champagne bar, clowns, balloon modelling and a caricaturist, really we are focussing on those 5 hours on a Saturday and because you’ve got all the data (management information from check-in), you can make some really good decisions.”
The Peter Vardy CarStore is just off Junction 26 of the M8, near Braehead shopping Centre at 500 Hillington Road, Glasgow G52 4XA.
