Digital Trade-In Journey for HUK-Autowelt
Redesigned the trade-in journey end-to-end — from vehicle data entry to final sale — cutting the gap between estimated and final price by more than half and turning a source of complaints into one of the most trusted parts of the platform.
Client
HUK-Autowelt
Industry
Automotive
Timeline
Technologies
Summary
Redesigned the trade-in journey end-to-end — from vehicle data entry to final sale — cutting the gap between estimated and final price by more than half and turning a source of complaints into one of the most trusted parts of the platform.
Key data
Role: Design Lead
Client: HUK-Autowelt
Scope: Full trade-in journey, online and in-person touchpoints, business and technical requirements
Challenge
The previous trade-in journey let customers book an in-person appraisal without providing any vehicle data upfront. Where data was collected, it was shallow — missing damage details and other criteria that could disqualify a vehicle from purchase entirely.
The result: customers arrived at appointments with expectations based on inaccurate or nonexistent estimates, only to be confronted with a price far below what they expected. This wasted their time and money, generated a steady stream of complaints, and — on the business side — occasionally led to purchasing vehicles that couldn't be resold without costly repairs.
Process
Mapped the current process across all online and offline touchpoints
Analyzed existing journey data: conversion rates, process duration, number of touchpoints and systems involved, and recurring user complaints
Gathered business and technical requirements and aligned them against actual user needs
Solution
Redesigned the journey around a simple principle: no one should arrive at an appointment blind.
Precise vehicle data entry upfront, so users get an accurate estimate before deciding whether to proceed
Users can now compare the estimate against their expectations first — and only then choose to book an in-person appraisal
During the appraisal, staff verify the customer's data, photograph the vehicle, and log damages and other criteria, which is sent to pricing specialists to determine a final offer
After the appraisal, customers can sell immediately or take time to decide, booking a separate handover appointment if they want
Introduced clear exclusion criteria and filters early in the flow, so vehicles that can't be purchased are flagged before an appointment is even booked
Results
Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
Gap between estimate and final price | 73% | 30% |
Appointment cancellations | — | −48% |
NPS | −60 | +50 |
Trustpilot rating | 1.1 | 4.1 |
Purchase rate | Stable | Stable, but higher resale quality |
Learnings
A suggestion based on what you described: "Accuracy earlier in the funnel matters more than convenience. Letting users book an appointment without any vehicle data felt frictionless upfront, but it just moved the friction — and the disappointment — to a later, more costly point in the journey."
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