CarShop Express Leicester, which is situated on Blackbird Road and opened its doors to the public at the start of May, has announced that – despite being a completely new concept store for the used car retailer and opening amidst a global pandemic – it has had an extremely successful year.
The store was an exciting development in the area, due to it being the UK’s first ‘Express’ car store. What this means is, unlike CarShop’s main stores which have large showrooms, expansive forecourts and different colleagues to help with every stage of the car buying journey, an Express store is a bit different. It has a small and friendly feel and its colleagues are all ‘Express Specialists’ who help customers through the whole car buying journey, from start to finish – making for a really personalised experience.
“Of course, we were a bit apprehensive to start with”, said Michele Williams, the store’s Branch Manager, “Would people know we were a car store without the hundreds of cars sitting outside on the forecourt? But as soon as we opened our doors, those worries were quickly put to rest.”
The main feature emphasised at CarShop Express Leicester seems to be convenience – customers can tailor their car buying journey depending on what they prefer. This could be browsing CarShop’s entire range of makes and models online and then transferring their favourite to the Leicester store for a test-drive, or collection, or it could be coming into the store at a time that suits them to speak to an Express Specialist about their options and the best finance method for them.
And the concept seems to have gone down a treat amongst local residents – with its sales figures increasing by 60% in the last four months, compared to the four months before that.
Feedback provided on Google Reviews also seems to be overwhelmingly positive when it comes to customer service. In fact, it has gained itself an impressive 4.9 stars out of 5, with feedback including: “Kyle stayed back an hour and a half after closing to answer all our questions without rushing us. This experience is normally so daunting but I felt so relaxed”, and “It was easy and straightforward with no fuss, from viewing the car, test-drive and paperwork, I was then driving away in my new car in just over an hour. Everything was explained step-by-step too”.
It has also already won prestigious trade awards, including at the Car Dealer’s Used Car Awards 2021.
“I’m thrilled to see it succeeding”, said Michele, “It’s a concept I really believe in, knowing that not everyone feels the need to walk between rows and rows of cars before deciding they’ve got the right one. Some are happy enough to browse online, in their own time – especially knowing they can take the car for a test-drive and return it if it doesn’t end up being the right one for them.”
The store has also made huge strides in helping the local community too – having launched its ongoing partnership with Help the Homeless Leicester a few months ago. This partnership involves CarShop donating £1 for every customer who buys a car from the store through its Pink Coin Scheme.
Its team members are also currently collecting their old hats, scarves, gloves and anything else that might help, to donate to those on the streets this winter.
