Does Elegance Matter?

Manufacturers are forcing dealers to spend money on upgrading their facilities, largely to create a more elegant environment rather than adding functionality. Although many of us feel these demands are excessive, there is a high correlation between the elegance of the retail environment and the price shoppers are willing to spend. More elegant jewelry stores command higher margins. More elegant casinos receive higher average bets. Some businesses have even reached the status of having their names used as synonyms for elegance: Ritz-Carlton, Nordstrom, and Tiffany.

The reason there is so much dealer resistance to these huge fixed cost investments is the increasing portion of the auto shopping process that takes place on line. It begs the question, would shoppers using an automotive shopping website or application that was extraordinary in its elegance cause more people to contact the store more ready to buy what they really want instead of just focused on price and payments? Revolutionary design can have a tremendous impact on markets, and it can impact the prices people are willing to pay, just ask Apple. But will it make a profound difference in automotive shopping? If elegance matters so much in the environment of human touchpoints, will it matter with the technological touchpoints?

The guessing stops on Thursday, September 15th, when the world's most elegant automotive shopping tool is revealed.