INTRODUCTION

360° technology is expanding across a growing number of sectors, and the automotive industry is no exception. Whether you are a dealer or a technician, the use of 360° panoramas can transform your organization or how you present and sell vehicles.

In this article, we will explore three ways to utilize 360° technology in the automotive field to captivate your customers, optimize your operations, and boost your performance.

1. How Dealerships Are Boosting Sales with 360° Technology

If you work in used car sales, you’re likely facing a constant challenge: managing a large inventory of vehicles while ensuring that each car is presented in an appealing way to stand out in a highly competitive market. Modernizing the customer experience and improving vehicle presentation has become essential to capturing buyers' attention.

Take, for example, Flex, a Japanese company specializing in used vehicles. Flex integrated 360° images into their listings, allowing buyers to explore each vehicle in detail from a distance, without needing to visit the dealership. This total transparency reassures customers and enables them to make quicker decisions, which in turn improves the conversion rate. They chose RICOH THETA cameras to capture high-quality 360° shots.

For other companies looking to optimize their listings, tools like VC360 simplify the creation of interactive content using just a smartphone while capturing high-resolution images. Additionally, to enhance and customize these visuals, Car Cutter automates the removal of backgrounds, providing clean, professional, and consistent images, saving time in the process. By combining these solutions, dealerships can present their vehicles in the best possible light, showcasing both exterior looks and internal technical details, thereby increasing buyer engagement.

Capturing under-vehicle photos is also essential in business-to-business transactions. It enables a thorough inspection of critical components like the chassis, exhaust system, or suspension, often invisible in traditional photos. This information is crucial for automotive professionals as it ensures a comprehensive vehicle assessment, reducing the risk of unpleasant surprises during resale or purchase.

Capturing high-quality images inside a vehicle can be challenging due to limited space, lighting variations, and reflections on glass surfaces. This is where RICOH THETA cameras truly shine. Their compact format makes it easy to navigate these confined environments and capture 360° photos within seconds without compromising image quality.

The HDR feature automatically balances contrasts, avoiding issues like overexposure caused by external light through windows. To go even further, the RICOH Image Enhancement API acts as a complementary tool, optimizing images taken in low light. It produces sharp and bright photos even in difficult lighting conditions. Easily integrable into your software, it ensures automatic image processing, while a simplified and free version is available through the RICOH360 app for more common needs.

Since integrating 360° cameras into the promotion of their automotive fleet, our clients have observed significant results:

  • Increased engagement: 30% more time spent on listings with 360° tours.
  • Sales growth: 25% more vehicles sold thanks to immersive presentations.
  • Thorough inspections: Detailed views of hard-to-reach areas, like the underside of vehicles, often overlooked with traditional images.
  • Improved image quality: RICOH’s APIs offer brighter and clearer images, ensuring a precise view of vehicles from all angles.

With RICOH THETA and our AI-powered Image Enhancement technology, you can not only improve your sales processes but also offer a smoother, more reassuring buying experience to your customers.

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2. How Luxury Brands Are Transforming the Online Shopping Experience

In the luxury vehicle sector, creating immersive experiences is a powerful way to attract and retain discerning clients. 360° technology plays a central role in this strategy by allowing brands to offer interactive tours and virtual explorations of their vehicles, often coupled with innovations such as augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR).

Brands like Porsche and Lamborghini use these tools to allow clients to explore every detail of their models from the comfort of their own homes, whether it’s viewing the interior in high definition or virtually test-driving the car on a scenic route. This helps create a strong emotional connection with the product, while showcasing the advanced technologies and sophisticated design of their vehicles. For example, Porsche launched 360° campaigns centered on their Taycan model, highlighting both its electric performance and the thrill of driving, reinforcing its position as a leader in luxury eco-friendly vehicles.

Moreover, by combining 360° technology with online sales platforms and configurators, customers can personalize their buying experience by virtually exploring all available options, from finishes to model-specific features. Audi, for instance, has used virtual showrooms where users can configure and see their vehicle in action on simulated roads, offering a fully immersive shopping experience.

The use of 360° virtual tours by luxury brands has demonstrated clear benefits:

  • Immersive experience: Clients can discover vehicles from every angle and interact with each detail virtually.
  • Increased engagement: Campaigns by brands like Lamborghini and Ferrari have shown a significant rise in online interactions, with a direct impact on brand perception and conversions.
  • Personalized customer experience: Visualization and configuration tools allow buyers to customize their cars in a virtual environment, strengthening their emotional connection to the product.

As an automotive professional, integrating these technologies into your marketing campaigns can provide a major competitive advantage. Not only do you offer a unique purchasing experience, but you also create a smoother, more engaging customer journey that encourages conversion while reinforcing the luxury and performance image of your vehicles.

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3. How Garages Optimize Technical Audits

Technical audits in garages are essential for optimizing technician performance. With 360° capture, you get a comprehensive view of workstations and can easily evaluate tool arrangement and space organization to provide recommendations for improving efficiency and working conditions.

The Bodyshop app by Locke & Partners is specifically designed for these audits. It allows for the evaluation of each station in a garage by capturing photos with cameras like the RICOH THETA X. Auditors take images of workspaces such as mechanical workshops, offices, and even the overall garage layout. These photos are then integrated into a virtual tour, enabling a complete remote evaluation of equipment and performance at each station.

Once the images are captured, Locke & Partners analyzes this data to assess the efficiency of equipment and work processes in each space. They then provide advice on space reorganization, tool improvement, and compliance with safety standards. This visual approach ensures that every station in the garage operates optimally, offering concrete recommendations based on real visual elements.

The integration of 360° cameras in technical audits has enabled our clients to achieve concrete results:

  • Workstation improvements: Analysis of tool arrangement and organization, providing concrete recommendations for optimizing workstations.
  • Ongoing training: 360° images help train teams by showcasing concrete examples of potential improvements.
  • Better working conditions: Space optimization to increase technician efficiency and safety.
  • Brand image reinforcement: A well-organized and modern workspace reflects a company that values quality, strengthening customer perception.

Using 360° technology in technical audits, combined with tools like Bodyshop, not only helps you improve your workshop's performance but also enhances your brand image.

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Conclusion

As an industry professional, adopting 360° technology can transform how you present your vehicles and manage your operations. Whether it's capturing buyers' attention at the dealership or optimizing technical audits in the workshop, RICOH THETA cameras and other innovative tools offer you effective and easy-to-use solutions. These technologies not only enhance the customer experience by providing immersive views but also ensure smoother, more precise management of daily operations. Integrating 360° into your processes is staying at the cutting edge of innovation while boosting your overall performance

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Feel free to contact us to discover how Ricoh360 solutions and Ricoh THETA can help bring your projects to life.