Influence of digitalization on the millenials customer exerience in the French Automtive sector

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Année 2020-2021

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What is the influence of digitalization on the customer experience

of millennials in the French automotive sector?

Livrable n°3

Présenté le 31/05/2020

Par

LE COZ Gautier

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Directeur du mémoire : Mr Makiela Michel

PLAGIARISM

“I certify that this thesis is personal, cites as references all the sources used and

those not contain plagiarism.”

PUBLICATION

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by ICN Business School for pedagogical purposes, with reserved access to the

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Table of contents

Introduction        6

Part 1: Literature Review        8

I)        The customer experience in the automotive sector        8

1)        Definition of customer experience concept        8

2)        An automotive customer experience service oriented        10

II)        Millennials, new needs, and another expectation of the automotive customer experience        

1)        Who are the millennials        13

2)        Millennials, new consumer behaviors        14

3)        Millennials, what relation to the automotive experience?        15

III)        Digitalization, a major challenge to create a complete customer experience for the millennial’s generation        17

1)        What is digitalization?        17

2)        Digitalization creates new customers touchpoints.        18

A)        Distributors digitalization        19

B)        From multi to omnichannel for hyper-informed millennials consumers        21

3)        The limits of digitalization on the customer experience        23

4)        Integrating digital with physical to deliver the best possible customer experience        25

Part 2: Methodology        28

I)        Study framework        28

1)        Reminder of our hypotheses        28

II)        Methodology choice        30

1)        Qualitative method        30

2)        Sample choice        32

Part 3: Data analysis        36

IV)        Results and discussion        36

1)        Millennials, different generational behaviors influenced by digital technology        36

A)        A digital native generation        36

B)        A more demanding generation        38

2)        Digital technology amplifies the automotive experience        39

A)        The automobile is becoming connected        39

a)        Digital is enabling the use of automobile as a service        39

b)        A connected use of the car        40

B)        Richer purchasing journeys        41

3)        The major role of the digitalization in hyper information and decision making.        43

A)        The search for information        43

a)        Tools used        44

b)        The information looked for        45

c)        A mistrust in the seller/constructor information        45

d) The need to find multiple sources to verify and complete information        46

B)        The impact of digital on the purchase choice        47

4)        The importance of the physical experience        47

A)        Going to the store is more than a necessity.        47

B)        The impact of online research on the physical experience        47

a)        An increased sef-confidence        48

b) A modified relationship with the salesperson        48

1) A need to verify information        48

2) The salesperson expert opinion remains considered        48

3) Going straight to the point        48

5) Digital tools in the physical world, creating value but not impacting the final decision        48

A)        Used by salespeople        48

B)        Self-service digital tools        48

C) Digitalized showrooms, a starting point but not an ending point        48

6) The 100% digital experience, an incomplete experience        48

A)        Advantages and limits of a 100% digital experience        48

B) A generation not yet ready to go 100% digital        49

a.        The car, a too important purchase to be lived only online        49

b.        The emotional barriers to car buying        49

Part 4 : Conclusion        50

V)        Limitations and future research        50

VI)        Implication for the pratical field        50

VII)        Conclusion        50

References        51

Appendix        55

I)        Interview Guide        55

II)        Transcripts of the conducted Interviews        60

Interview 1        60

Interview 2        67

Interview 3        74

Interview 4        83

Interview 5        90

Interview 6        96

Interview 7        104

Interview 8        112

Interview 9        120

Interview 10        128

Introduction

The world we live in is increasingly becoming more and more digitalized. It is an understatement to think that this is simply a passing trend. The consideration of this phenomenon as a real evolution, or even revolution, is, moreover, more appropriate. As a result, it is normal to see that the world of sales and marketing is inspired by it and is following this movement in order to improve the customer experience but also to adapt to new customer behaviors and not fall into oblivion. Today, physical or digital... digital or physical... one is impossible without the other, and customers themselves prefer to live a shopping experience when a retailer has several sales channels. The digitalization of the point of sale seems to be today at the heart of the preoccupations of the stores. It would seem that faced with the Internet's immense power, physical stores have decided to counter-attack using digital devices that would allow them to fight with "equal weapons" with the giants of online commerce. And for this, stores can rely on innovations, the most important of which, the one that revolutionized usage, came in 2007 with Apple's launch of the first iPhone. The arrival of smartphones has provided customers with an extraordinary tool to compare prices, get information and benefit at any time from an inexhaustible source of information that can be consulted at will.