Jamie Kent is an Executive Director at Shift Digital, where he leads one of the largest OEM programs for North America for certified automotive dealer websites and consumer engagement tools. He also leads upcoming emerging technology providers.

Jamie is an experienced automotive software and digital marketing executive with over 15 years of industry experience. He has held executive leadership positions with companies ranging from small, privately-held to large, publicly-traded organizations. He was the Senior Director of Market Performance - Independent Dealer Solutions at Dealertrack and the Executive Vice President & COO of ClickMotive before joining Shift Digital.

In this episode…

Without a doubt, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital retailing by many dealerships, leading them to view it as a necessity in a fast-changing world. The pandemic has also led to inventory shortages for many dealerships who now have to wait for a longer time to receive cars, and this has greatly affected sales, the sales cycle, and how salespeople interact with potential customers.

Because of this, dealerships have been forced to get creative in handling the inventory shortage problem. Some have resorted to marketing and selling cars online on a pre-order basis even before the units arrive at their showrooms. Consumer shopping habits and expectations have also changed during this period, and all these factors will affect dealerships' future sales.

In this episode of the InsideAuto Podcast, Ilana Shabtay interviews Jamie Kent, an Executive Director at Shift Digital, about tackling inventory shortages and changing consumer behavior in the automotive industry. They discuss how these changes have been affecting the normal sales cycle, how they have impacted communication with customers, and the main challenges dealerships will face when the shipping problems are over. Stay tuned.