Buying a car? Don't forget your smartphone

According to BMW, 97% of consumers now rely on the internet for identifying and researching a new car. The move towards digital has become so widespread that it is already impacting on the traditional concept of the car dealership.

In 1998, a consumer would visit a car retailer an average of four times before making or completing a purchase. Today, the average is just 1.4 visits.

The changing nature of the car dealership is why Hyundai has started to do away with showrooms and sales assistants steeped in knowledge about horsepower in favor of interactive touch screens and personnel who specialize in luxury item retail.

Even the most exclusive brands are looking at how digital can change the car-shopping experience. Bentley has a configurator app that uses images and video in concert with a smartphone or tablet's front-facing camera to analyze a person's emotional response to visual stimulus and use that data to automatically create a bespoke color and materials scheme, before setting foot in the building.

In November BMW took things one step further, by becoming the first car company to bring every aspect of car ownership -- from selecting and specifying a model to finance, sales and servicing -- to the web. And although you can go from initial enquiry to collection in under 10 minutes, BMW wants the service to complement rather than replace the traditional notion of the car dealership.

But of course people are moving away from traditional dealers for information and increasingly they're also moving closer to mobile devices for assistance as a result.

Over the past 12 months, one third of all online interaction across manufacturer and automotive websites relating to new and used cars was mobile. According to AutoTrader in the UK, this activity spiked at 41% in November. That's an eight-fold increase since 2012.

AutoTrader commissioned an in-depth study of more than 1000 UK carbuyers and found that when the hunt for a new car begins, it's unusual for a consumer to reach immediately for a smartphone. A desktop or notebook's greater screen size makes it the ideal tool for comparing brands or models side by side.

However, by the time a consumer is at a car dealership, a smartphone is indispensable. "Buyers are increasingly drawn to their mobiles for timely answers to specific questions on areas like price and specifications, and to reassure themselves that the retailer is one they can trust," said AutoTrader Insight Director, Nick King.