Toyota rolls out new website challenging the industry norm
Toyota Motor Europe (TME), part of the global Toyota Group, has launched its new European website following an overhaul of the site’s structure and information architecture (IA) by full service marketing and technology company Amaze. The new site structure reflects Toyota’s new brand direction, ‘Always a Better Way’, focusing on a stress free customer experience. The site delivers thoughtful innovations and actions, which actively improve the quality of the consumers’ online research process.
Typically, automotive websites are structured in exactly the same way – sporting a picture of the manufacturer’s hero model on the homepage, with the user having to navigate the site by clicking on a promotion box or drop down menu and needing to actively hunt for further information.
Toyota’s brief to Amaze was to audit the structure and architecture of the old site and create an entirely new navigation model that would streamline the users’ online journey. The result is a solution that eliminates typical issues such as struggling to find relevant information, whilst introducing appropriate use of images, up front transparency of costs and social validation.
The new version of the website is being rolled out across Europe and the Middle East, covering a total of 31 markets, following successful pilots in Germany and Finland. The project has been delivered through collaboration between Amaze, TME and other specialist agencies.
Thorough research and testing was carried out by Amaze, from eye tracking and usability testing through to user interviews and competitive benchmarking of the automotive sector. The intensive research phase delivered key insights in order to truly understand how to bridge the gap between the number of visitors to the website and the number of people who progress through the purchase cycle to buy a Toyota. The new site places a strong emphasis on moving users from knowledge gathering to actively considering purchasing a vehicle.
Karen Peeters, Senior Manager of Digital, Asset Management and Publications at Toyota Motor Europe, commented, “Our website plays a critical role in our sales process so we wanted to make sure we were exposing the right content to the right people at the right time, helping translate site visits to quantitative sales. With Amaze’s help we have been able to create a website that moves away from the norm in our industry and we’re looking forward to rolling it out across our European markets.”
Natalie Gross, CEO of Amaze, commented, “Amaze has worked closely with Toyota Motor Europe for over a decade as its trusted European digital partner. This project is the outcome of constant evaluation, optimisation and improvement of the site’s performance, demonstrating our shared belief in continuous improvement. Digitally speaking, the automotive sector is an interesting area as it is typically very uniform in its approach. Drawing on years of industry expertise, we have been able to create a solution that delivers a greatly improved user journey and incorporates the latest advancements in technology.”
The roll out of the site across all markets is due to be completed by the end of May 2012.
For further information, visit amaze.com.