Nardo Cars no longer use printed car brochures. Instead, customers can assemble the car of their dreams – with all the extras – on interactive displays, and then stroll right over to a dedicated service technician.
Nardo Cars was established in 1983 in Trondheim, Norway. Today, they run a total of ten dealerships in Norway – eight of them focused on Volvo, one on Jaguar and the last one Land Rover.
Trond Ivar Fiske Pedersen in Trondheim is the IT Manager. He does everything from support, technical maintenance and programming, to installation and development projects. He has worked alongside Kinly since 2016 and is now a long way towards establishing holistic solutions throughout the Nardo Cars group.
With the Volvo personal service concept, all customers have a specific service technician. When the customer enters the shop, they can find their contact easily on an Elotek registration screen.
"When you arrive at the workshop, you simply enter your car's registration number. This will give you the contact information and a picture of your service technician, as well as a map with route guidance to the technician's workstation. The client can then enter straight into the workshop" Fiske Pedersen explains.
The customers can then chat, have a coffee and watch as the car is being repaired. The workshops therefore have clean walls, neat floors and a suitable working environment for employees and clients alike.
Nardo Cars has two Samsung Flips, a fully digital flipboard with a 4k touch-screen. This has enabled the sales executives to walk away from printed literature – giving them more time to be creative with the client.
“Customers can use the "Build your own Volvo" option to see exactly what their dream car will be like. They can browse through a variety of choices, including models, colors and skins, and the car is then projected onto a bigger screen," says Fiske Pedersen.
When the customer has more time, the second Samsung Flip screen lets them add accessories.
On the accessory screen, they can find extras like roof racks, ski-boxes, bike racks and rims. The customer can select and choose from all of Volvo's accessories and place an order directly.
In combination with the digital experience, color samples, demo-products and showcase cars are right next to the screens. This way, they ensure a three-dimensional impression.
With their 75-inch Samsung signage monitor, the sales team in Trondheim can even show the equipment on video.
“Volvo Introductory Videos visualize how the equipment works when driving the car. Instead of explaining the features, a screen visualization makes it that much more real for the customer” Fiske Pedersen explains.
The Trondheim showroom also has an Elotek display connected to the website’s secondhand car selection. On it, the customer can – along with the sales rep – choose everything from model to color and even gear.
“The display shows all our secondhand cars matching the customer's demands. It lets the Trondheim department sell cars from all our shops around the country. The seller can bypass several, arduous parts of the process – saving the client from a long wait” says Fiske Pedersen.
In addition to detailed specifications, the screens can do a 360-degree view of the cars, both inside and outside.
Kristian Alstad is Nardo Cars’ customer-contact in Kinly, and he praises the company for the way they operate in an industry where digital solutions are few and far between.
“Nardo Cars stand out. We now work systematically for customers to have an intuitive and fun experience when buying or maintaining their car.”
Otrum is a software for digital signage which lets IT Managers control all the monitors from Trondheim. With it, he can choose which content to show in the various stores or whether all displays are showing similar videos – for example, when they do a big campaign.
“The marketing department also distributes content through Otrum, sharing everything from canteen information to general customer news. Clever solutions like this one makes it much easier for us to communicate, both internally and externally.”
All Kinly solutions can be found in the main store in Trondheim. The workshop screens have also found their way to Ålesund and Molde, where the latter is about to receive both the "Build your Volvo" and the accessories display. In the long run, the goal is to have the same setup on every single dealership.
“Based on sales figures and feedback from the shops, I truly believe open concepts and high-tech solutions are the way to go for our industry. Customers receive readily accessible information, thereby improving their decision-making. Using less paper and more technology has definitely improved every aspect of buying and selling a car.”
Alstad appreciates the cooperation with Fiske Pedersen and Nardo Cars.
“ It's fun to work with such a forward-thinking player. Nardo Cars is constantly evolving. They are great at innovative thinking and they excel at creating an exciting journey for the customer.”
The IT Manager is also looking forward to continuing the relationship.
“As a supplier and partner, Kinly and Alstad get a full score. Together, we can achieve everything!”