The past year has had its ups and downs for the automotive industry with used car shortages, cyber-attacks, the introduction of the agency model for some brands and markets, plus fluctuating fuel prices and the challenging EV market, but Tjekvik has come out stronger than ever and is already looking forward to another successful year in 2024.
Overall, Tjekvik has expanded its global customer base by over 50% and intends to beat that growth in the next year.
They have also seen fantastic growth in usage numbers this year, says Business Development Director, Nick Pratt: “We’ve had over 2.6 million customers use self-service to check in at home, or use a kiosk to check in or out at the dealership. Not only is the volume up but the percentage usage rates are also increasing, with 46% of customers using the home check-in and 24% going for the in-dealership kiosk options.”
The growth in usage numbers is in part driven by one of the biggest achievements this year, the launch of the all-new outdoor kiosks in September, which has since boosted out-of-hours check-in by around 800 per month.
The introduction of the outdoor model has been a resounding success, previously indoor kiosks were used by around 1,900 users, but with both indoor and outdoor options, Tjekvik’s average monthly users have grown to 2,700.
Nick said: “It’s a market-leading piece of hardware and not only looks great, but it also has an EN1143 certificate, meaning it meets th same security standards as a safe.”
Having an outdoor facility means that customers can check in and out at any time of day, reducing queue times and boosting the dealership’s convenience factor by being open outside of normal business hours.
This year has also seen the launch of rental self-service solutions in Nordic countries in partnership with RentLog. The innovation is the most comprehensive and automated self-service rental solution on the market. It allows customers to pick up courtesy vehicles themselves, with automatic capture of driver’s licenses, letting the customer review and sign the rental contract and delivers savings for the service team of up to 10 minutes per customer.
Anders Kragelund Tjekvik COO added: “This really delivers on our promise to make life easier for the Service advisor. We will expand this project across the UK and Europe in 2024 with leading rental providers. The combination of our self-service rental, 24/7 check-in and check-out and our outdoor kiosk offers maximum convenience for the busy dealership customer and major time savings for the service teams too”.
As well as these achievements Tjekvik continues to grow their ecosystem connectivity, adding six payment providers and four DMS integrations in 2023, increasing the sophistication of their software and making self-service easily available for many dealers and markets.
They have also continued to see increased return on investment for all dealerships, doubling the sales of added value items year on year. As dealers gain experience with Tjekvik, they have begun to tailor their added-value items to their customer base, location and time of year.
Anders Kragelund said: ”Increasing the dealer’s ROI is a big product and advisory topic for 2024. As the dealers, and their customers, self-service usage matures, we are responding with product enhancements that will further boost the dealer’s revenue – because that is what it is all about. We are a digital sales assistant and a very good one!’
He continued: “Our software allows dealers to offer specific services dependent on the season, like selling air conditioning refresh in the summer and windscreen wipers in the winter. This smart use of Tjekvik technology has allowed dealers to bring in total added value sales of 9.4 million euros year to date, over double of what was sold last year. In 2024 we want to double that again – by incorporating web shop features, smart usage of the dealer’s own data and merchant-like advisory services’’.
Much of this growth has been thanks to the loyalty of existing customers in growing markets such as the Kia and K.W. Brunn dealer networks in the Nordics. Kia Sweden has even mandated Tjkevik solutions across all their dealerships, ensuring their customers receive a consistent digital self-service experience.
It’s not only in the Nordics that Tjekvik has received support from leading OEMs. They continue to grow with brands such as BMW and Volkswagen in the UK, Poland, and Central and Southern Europe and that will continue in 2024 with lots of new brands expanding digital programmes into their dealer networks.
According to Nick, Tjekvik has also received ‘tremendous’ support from dealer groups, such as Vertu, their largest UK customer, and Inchcape, who have rolled out the self-service solution across all their sites. He added, “We see dealer groups in markets across Europe, Australia and the UK embrace digital self-service as a core part of their customer offering and will have many new partners on board in 2024.”
However, 2023 has not been without its challenges. For example, a stock shortage has seen many used car operations contracts, reducing a key profit centre for dealers. But Tjekvik is doing its best to help.
Dealers have integrated questions such as: ‘Are you looking for a vehicle valuation?’ and ‘Would you like to sell your vehicle?’, into the customer flows producing over 94,000 positive responses year to date. If dealers convert even 25% of these, that’s a potential of 22,000 used cars to be sold on. Making the most out of this feature, dealers have even been able to sell their customers a new car, generating two sales in one.
Tjekvik also offers a solution to the ongoing challenge dealers face of retaining customers with vehicles over three years old. The Tjekvik software has so far generated over 88,000 service plan enquiries this year, providing a platform for the dealer to create loyal, returning customers.
Summing up, Christian Mark, Tjekvik CEO, expressed his optimism and gratitude for the company’s achievements in 2023, stating, “In a year marked by industry challenges, Tjekvik has not only weathered the storm but emerged stronger and more resilient. Our commitment to innovation, customer convenience, and dealership support has driven remarkable growth. As we look ahead to 2024, we’re excited to continue building on this momentum, forging stronger partnerships, and delivering cutting-edge self-service technology that redefines the automotive experience for dealers, customers, and brands alike.”
