The ‘drive your car to the garage and wait around while it’s worked on’ approach of the automotive maintenance industry has changed little since the first cars appeared on our roads well over a century ago. But now, digital technology is transforming the market forever.
The UK automotive service, maintenance and repair market is worth £13bn per annum. Yet traditionally, the size of the market has been matched only by the levels of consumer distrust surrounding it, and the scale of difficulty engaging effortlessly with it.
Simplifying car collection and delivery
That’s something I experienced every time my car needed servicing or maintaining. The whole process was so slow and so laborious. The concept of phoning around, and even driving around, garages, felt positively antiquated. Yet I had no choice because when I went online, I still could not find a simple, suitable solution.
As Plato said, ‘Necessity is the mother of invention.’ Thus, out of my inability to find a proper online car maintenance service, the idea for Fixter was born, the first online, end-to-end car maintenance service provider.
Organising the maintenance of your car becomes as easy as ordering a takeaway
Even before COVID-19, some sectors of the automotive industry were changing by responding to customer’s wishes to purchase cars online. Now, as Google’s recent Consumer Insights, Automotive study highlights, the pandemic is accelerating those trends. Also, the survey reveals that more people are seeking comfort in car ownership and that 1 in 8 public transport users say they will purchase a car as an alternative to public transport.
And how they may make their purchase shows the extent of upheaval the automotive industry is undergoing. Increasingly, people are happy to undertake the entire car purchasing processes digitally, willing to research their next vehicle online and even experience virtual test drives before having their new car delivered to their home.
People are willing to research their next vehicle online and even experience virtual test drives before having their new car delivered to their home.
The success of Cazoo, which enables customers to view and buy not new, but used cars online, before having them delivered to their home for free, shows that this level of online customer trust is no longer the exclusive preserve of manufacturers. Who would have thought that anyone would ever have been happy to purchase a second-hand car online without even seeing it, never mind test driving it? But with the right digital technology and the right business plan, Cazoo has made it possible.
Bizarrely though the traditional service and maintenance industry has remained untouched by the digital revolution, with customers still expected to do things the old-fashioned, time-consuming way. But now, with our mobile-first strategy and unique approach of pairing digital technology with local knowledge we are revolutionising the market at a rapid pace. As a fast-thinking technology company, Fixter is redefining the industry and creating a future-proof digital solution.
Fixter is redefining the service and maintenance industry and creating a future-proof digital solution.
Eradicating complexity is the key to success. With a simple online booking platform, collection and delivery of vehicles to customers’ homes, experts to negotiate prices with hand-picked local garages and world-class consumer support, we are taking the stress, mistrust and wasted time out of the customer journey. As a data-driven tech company, we are working with the garages we use to create digital solutions to make the whole processes not only more convenient but also completely transparent.
As a result, control of car service and maintenance is placed right at the customers’ fingertips. Organising the maintenance of your car becomes as easy as ordering a takeaway from your favourite restaurant.
About Fixter
Fixter is revolutionising the car maintenance industry, one repair at a time. Fixter was founded to make car maintenance as easy as booking a taxi. Digital, transparent and stress-free, with world-class customer service. Since launching in Manchester in 2017, Fixter has expanded to more than 100 cities across the UK and provided thousands of car owners with honest, convenient and affordable car repair services.