To compete in today’s challenging automotive retail environment, you deserve a data-driven partner who helps create a successful digital marketing strategy with innovative tools and technology. With the NADA Show 2024 just around the corner, Dealer.com has been working hard to bring you new products and enhancements to the products you know and love.
Bringing new solutions to our dealers is something we strive for every single year. Here’s a sneak peek of what’s NEW being unveiled at this year’s NADA show:
Homepage Design and Configuration: Modernize your website by presenting shoppers with an updated, modern look and feel to create a more effective buying path.
Mobile Lot Capture: A new scanning tool that allows you to take and upload photos of inventory directly from the lot.
Local SEO Packages: Drive your dealership to the top of the search engine results page to drive more traffic to your website.
We’ve also made some meaningful enhancements to our foundational tools this year. By updating your processes to incorporate these capabilities, you’ll get the opportunity to deliver the best possible consumer experiences. Some of the enhanced solutions include:
Kelley Blue Book My Wallet + Accelerate My Deal: Deliver a connected, personalized shopping journey for your consumers that allows them to complete more steps online with our digital retail solutions activated across Autotrader and KBB.com listings and Dealer.com websites.
Simplified Dealer.com Search Results Page (SRP): Prioritize the most relevant data points for shoppers to make it easier for them to find and review search results.
Dealer.com is the only full-service digital marketing partner backed by the power of Cox Automotive—the largest data pool of automotive shopper behaviors in the industry. Our mission is to help dealers create a successful digital marketing strategy, personalize the consumer shopping journey, and maximize marketing ROI.
These new and enhanced technologies can help dealers like you increase your consumer knowledge and sustain an advantage over the competition to win more deals in 2024.
Schedule your demo for an in-depth look at these new solutions only being unveiled at this year’s NADA show.
It’s here… The new eBook from Autotrader, Dealer.com and Esntial Commerce.
In today’s times, it’s no longer enough to just collect data and use digital retailing tools. It’s time to make a step-by-step plan to activate and leverage them to empower your sales, retain customers and increase new business for the digital future.
With a future of no third-party cookies on the near horizon, layered with a shifted consumer preference of completing more of the purchase process online… It’s no wonder why many auto dealers are struggling with how to stay a step ahead!
But modernizing your marketing and business strategy doesn’t have to be as complicated as it may seem.
Find out the new ways to connect with and activate your customer data in order to drive profits not just now, but for many years to come. The new speed of retail is here, and shoppers expect a streamlined, digital experience. Find out how inside our newest eBook.
By taking a deeper look at the importance of not just collecting data, but learning how to effectively interpret and activate your data, you’ll discover the step-by-step to increase your digital presence to get more deals done.
Digital retailing is the way of the future for the automotive industry. If your dealership is not implementing digital retailing capabilities during some part of the consumer journey, you could be missing out on leads, and taking money from your own pocket. But not every customer wants the same things from their online experience—they all want options. Our research shows that customers don’t want to follow a prescribed sales process. In fact, 9 of 10 customers prefer a flexible, personalized car buying experience.
However, as the consumer landscape continues shifting, consumers want to do more shopping online. This means dealers must expand their digital retailing offerings to ensure they are not missing out on potential sales. 89% of franchise dealers added at least one digital step in 2020.¹ So if your competition down the road is already adopting digital retailing tools, you’re already missing out.
Whether you are selling cars fully online as the industry bridges towards an eCommerce future or somewhere in between, we have technology at Cox Automotive to help you create a seamless online shopping experience for your consumers.
Digital Retailing VS Ecommerce
There is often confusion when people think about digital retailing and eCommerce. While most people might think they are the same thing, they are different.
Digital retailing helps guide the overall experience for your shopper and saves time for both you and the consumer. Your customers can easily navigate and engage with your website during different stages of their purchasing journey.
The digital retailing process is mostly supported by a member of your dealership staff. For example, the consumer starts the deal online and can take it to a credit app submission, sometimes even a credit decision, but at that point dealership personnel will need to engage with the consumer to walk them through the deal. Digital retailing can help your dealership:
Increase exposure and reach
Give you the ability to turn vehicles quicker
Increase acquisition and inventory capabilities
Close deals faster – and more profitable deals
Improve customer satisfaction – and referrals
eCommerce involves a fully digital transaction where the consumer begins the deal online. But the main differentiator is that consumers can complete their purchase steps at their own pace while working through the deal all the way through a digital sign for the vehicle to actual delivery to their front door. This fully digital transaction heavily involves automated F&I automation, not dealership staff. In fact, most dealerships have a sole eCommerce team focused on end-to-end digital transactions.
Dealer.com Digital Retailing Capabilities
When it comes to digital retailing, Kelley Blue Book® My Wallet is the first digital retailing touchpoint consumers can have with your Dealer.com site. Dealers can integrate Kelley Blue Book My Wallet, an intuitive tool designed to improve the shopping to buying journey and drive more quality connections between buyers and sellers, directly on your website. My Wallet gives dealers access to everything from down payment, trade-in, and financing information – the data needed to speed up the deal-making process and get more accurate leads.
1.1 MILLION VISITORS HAVE SYNCED THEIR MY WALLET PROFILE ON DEALER.COM2
80% of consumers think it is a good or great idea to buy entirely online.³ And with Accelerate My Deal, consumers can complete even more steps online, speeding up the deal for everyone. When shoppers enter their information into Kelley Blue Book® My Wallet it’s automatically transferred into the Accelerate My Deal experience. Accelerate My Deal leads on average close at a 48% higher close rate compared to other internet leads helping dealers get more highly qualified leads and boost their profits.⁴ My Wallet gives shoppers a personalized shopping journey and Accelerate My Deal moves the shopper from journey to purchase. To learn more about Accelerate My Deal, check out this guide.
“Digital retailing tools maximize a dealership’s marketing strategy by offering a personalized shopping journey to car buyers who want choices on how they shop with dealerships. Over the past few years this digital transformation really gained momentum as consumers searched for more digital tools that help them shop from the comfort of their home by locating vehicles during our inventory shortage, or providing real-time interest rates which dictate what they can afford. The results of the last few years support the fact that you want a multi-channel approach to be competitive, you can attract a broader range of consumers by offering more ways to start their purchase – and you need to have the right tools for your sales team to create the most convenient way to purchase no matter where your customer started. What I would underscore here is that innovative “tools” are part of the formula, but to avoid restarting the customer you need well-trained people and processes to execute and drive the right outcomes.” Brett Pomerantz, Sr. Director – Enterprise Solutions, Cox Automotive
DID YOU KNOW 70% OF SHOPPERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BUY FROM A DEALER IF THEY CAN START THE PROCESS ONLINE? ⁵
The new age of automotive retail is here, and consumers desire a streamlined, digital experience. So, to help you meet them where they are, it’s important to take a look at where you are.
Whether you are slow to adopt digital retailing or at full-force adoption, there’s still advantages. And step by step you can shift to the ecommerce future that’s already staring down dealers and pushing them in that direction.
¹ 2020 Digitization of End-to-End Retail-Study
² 1.1 million visitors sync their My Wallet profile
³ 2022 Car Buying Journey Study
⁴ Cox Automotive Product Analytics. Accelerate My Deal Lead to Close Analysis using VinSolutions sales data. Data from Jan 2020-Nov 2020. Analysis performed January 2021
At Cox, we’re all about creating a frictionless, end-to-end experience for customers. And with so many Cox Automotive solutions, we strive to create valuable connections between our solutions to deliver dealers and consumers real value.
That’s why we believe Cox Automotive marketing solutions—Dealer.com, Autotrader, and Kelley Blue Book— just work better together.
One valuable connection that was unveiled at NADA Show 2023 that really takes the power of connection to the next level, is Kelley Blue Book My Wallet now being integrated into Dealer.com dealer Websites who have Accelerate My Deal.
Noah Lee, Senior Director of Product Consulting at Dealer.com, provides a quick overview of KBB My Wallet. He also demos how car shoppers can navigate the My Wallet tool on Dealer.com websites and easily complete even more steps of the car buying journey online with Accelerate My Deal.
As the only end-to-end auto digital marketing agency, Dealer.com wants to help transform your digital retailing and increase your car buyer leads with a truly connected, end-to-end experience for consumers.
And that’s a wrap for the NADA Show 2023! Thanks for stopping by the Dealer.com booth and demoing our latest innovations.
Dealer.com does more than provide websites, we’re the premier end-to-end digital marketing solution for your automotive dealership. And whether you are current or new Dealer.com customer, now is the time to get started on your digital marketing goals in 2023.
If you did not get a chance to visit our booth, no worries. There’s still an opportunity to demo the new products and enhancements we unveiled at the show. In the meantime, here’s a recap of what we debuted:
KBB My Wallet on Dealer.com Websites
Kelley Blue Book® My Wallet, a personalized shopper tool on Autotrader and KBB.com, will now be automatically integrated into all Dealer.com dealer websites. This means dealers will have even more information on consumers than ever before.
You can get everything from down payment, trade-in, and financing information – the data you need to speed up the deal-making process and get more accurate leads for your dealership.
Local SEO
Take complete control of Search Engine Results Page (SERP) beyond just your organic and paid listings as Google prioritizes local experiences when consumers search for cars. With Local SEO, dealers can promote their dealership and inventory to local car shoppers at exactly the time they are searching for your business.
New Car Customizer
With more consumers shopping online for cars than ever before, dealers must ensure their website has the tools consumers need for a seamless shopping experience while displaying a modernized web design.
Our new car customizer allows shoppers to find the vehicle they are searching for, even when dealers do not have the specific vehicle in inventory.
These are just a few of the solutions we got to share with dealers at the show. Be sure to sign up for a demo today!
It’s no longer enough to simply implement digital retailing tools. To be competitive and close more deals, you have to understand the “why” of digital retailing. Why do consumers seek out these experiences? Why do they choose one dealership’s digital retailing over another? And, most importantly, why should you pay attention to consumers’ answers to these questions?
Amanda Hilerio, eCommerce Performance Manager at Dealer.com, recently spoke to dealers about how to take their digital retailing game to the next level. She discussed five talking points to help dealers attract more car sales leads and get the most out of their digital retailing investment.
Consumer behavior trends and the factors affecting consumer decisions
Why you should pay attention to these consumer trends
How to align your processes with consumer trends
Technology integrations that make your processes easier
How to connect your digital storefront to your physical dealership
Watch the webinar to see how your dealership can connect with more dealer leads through your digital retailing experience.
Consumers have spoken and dealers have responded. As a result of overwhelming demand, about 70% of dealerships now offer some form of a digital buying experience.* They are giving customers what they want—the option to start and (in some cases) even complete the car buying process online. But with so many dealers going digital, how does your digital dealership stand out?
Bring Awareness to Your Customers
Simply having a digital buying experience is no longer enough, especially if your customers don’t know what you offer. To differentiate your dealership and win more automotive leads, you have to bring awareness to your digital options.
Having digital buying tools on your website is a good first step, but you have to create, design, and implement a buying experience that speaks to your audience—modern car buyers. Customers are already motivated to move through a digital buying experience (two out of three want to complete even more steps digitally during their next buying experience). And when they know what dealership offers, you stand out.
Tell your customers all about your digital buying experience and make the benefits clear to the customer—reduced time in the dealership, added convenience, and the ability to buy even when out of market. Doing so can expand your reach, attract more car buyer leads, and provide a clear pathway to engage with your offerings.
Make Your Digital Experience as Easy as Possible
One of the top pain points of buying a car is spending time in the dealership. If your customers can complete a handful of steps digitally before arriving at the dealership, the entire car buying process will be smoother, more efficient, and easier for your customers. These initial digital steps may include the ability to:
Calculate personalized payments in every aspect of their deal structure
Include every possible incentive and rebate available to your customers
Value a trade-in and see how the price of a new or used car adjusts accordingly
Get an idea of their credit worthiness and even apply for and get preapproved for financing
Schedule a test drive appointment
When you offer this kind of experience, word gets around. Before long, your online reviews will reflect that buying a car from your dealership is the best, most efficient experience around. This has a compounding effect of bringing even more awareness to your dealership as a place of business that speeds up the overall buying process and treats customers right.
Take Your Digital Buying Experience Above and Beyond
Another way to differentiate your digital buying experience is to implement steps that few other dealerships offer. This can disrupt the status quo of the new digital dealership and create some buzz around your offerings. These steps may include:
Personalized virtual video test drive: This may involve a video call with the customer while members of your sales team drive the car and show off features.
Remote deal signing: Give customers the option to complete signing from the convenience of their home or office. This can expand your dealership audience to include out-of-market customers and may give your dealership a competitive edge through inventory shortages.
Online vehicle reservation: On a similar note, giving digital customers the ability to put their name down for a car and get in line for an upcoming purchase can give your dealership an advantage when inventory is low across the industry.
Scheduling a first service appointment: Consider introducing your customers to your service department with a virtual service meeting. This can help your customers establish a consistent pattern of bringing their car to your service department and boost service revenue.
The digital dealership may be the new norm, but your digital dealership can stand out from the crowd by bringing awareness to customers, making your digital experience as easy and customer-friendly as possible, and going the extra mile to offer digital steps other dealerships don’t.
To learn more about how you can stand out in a world of digital dealerships, check out Dealer.com Manager of Performance Management B. Malaczewski’s recent webinar, all about differentiating the digital buying process. You can also learn more about delivering the kind of digital shopping experience your customers expect at Dealer.com.
* Digitization of End-to-End Retailing (DoEER) study by Cox Automotive
Half of a consumer’s decision to repurchase or recommend an automotive brand or dealer is based on trust. While dealerships and car salespeople have long suffered from a lack of consumer confidence throughout the purchase process, gaining trust most certainly is possible when dealerships act intentionally. A leading way to win over auto sales leads is through a digital buying experience—if it is done properly.
Even with digital sales methods, dealerships need to bolster consumer relationships to meet their goals. Ensuring that the digital sales process is developed and grounded in trust ultimately benefits both the car buyer leads and the dealership. Here are five ways your dealership can build trust with modern car buyers.
1. Understand the power of digital
Automotive sales have been trending toward an era of online shopping for some time now. But within the past 18 to 24 months alone, the percentage of vehicles purchased digitally has skyrocketed from 2% to almost 30%—a massive and sudden shift in consumer preferences that dealerships simply can’t ignore.
This preference to purchase vehicles online is still gaining momentum. More than three-quarters (76%) of automotive dealer leads are willing to consider a complete online purchase process. This movement toward digital or hybrid purchasing is not likely to go away anytime soon, and savvy dealerships understand that the sales process has been permanently disrupted. Having the right technology available is a necessary basis for initiating customer relationships, anticipating their needs, and building trust from the get-go.
2. Evaluate technology to ensure you have the right solutions in place
Whether your dealership has digital experience tools already in place or if you’re just getting started, it’s important to evaluate available technology so it is serving both your customer base and internal needs. With the right functionality, these tools can guide automotive leads through the sales funnel, close deals with more efficiency, and increase profits.
Connecting those dots and getting the technology right ultimately impacts your bottom line. Dealerships surveyed earned 25% higher front-end gross profits and 24% higher back-end gross profits, compared to traditional dealer leads. The right technology will meet customers where they already are in the sales process, providing tailored support that demonstrates your business recognizes their unique needs.
3. Use customer data to keep deals moving forward
Through responsible customer data usage, dealerships can target buyers with relevant automotive digital marketing in spaces that are of most use for them, resulting in a win-win situation. Admittedly, it’s not easy to do. About half of dealerships say that it is a challenge to leverage data and systems to identify opportunities, while 86% of dealers agree that having accurate and complete customer data is a dealership priority. However, the right software and tools can assist.
Customer data can come from a variety of sources, including the consumer sharing it directly with the dealership, the consumer sharing it with a trusted third-party partner, or outside entities collecting it. Ideally, the dealership combines its own data with that of trusted partners for the most well-rounded view. The data can help your dealership understand the customer’s vehicle type preferences, budget, stage in the sales process, communication preferences, and more.
Your own data should provide the insights you need to offer personalized online user experiences like recommendations, specials, and fixed operations content based on their previous shopping behaviors. Customer data provides a 216% increase in lead form submission rates, based on a Dealer.com study of 524 franchise dealers who subscribed to Experience Optimization. Dealerships using Experience Optimization showed that customers were three times more likely to initiate a trade-in deal. Salespeople can use data to inform their approach to a deal and to better assure customers that they are being supported throughout their ownership journey.
4. Give customers control of their buying experience
Customers want to be in control of their shopping experience, so most successful dealerships offer a range of online and offline communication options to help make customers comfortable and enable open dialogue. Offering a hybrid experience that combines the functionality of brick-and-mortar operations with the convenience of shopping online is key for building strong relationship with a wide range of customers.
With this hybrid model, customers can do as much of the shopping online as they would like, and then come to the dealership when they’re ready. This level of flexibility helps bolster confidence and trust in the process. Two-thirds of dealer leads say that they want to complete more of their next car-buying process online compared to their prior vehicle purchase. If a customer can purchase on their own terms, they’re more likely to give your dealership good reviews/referrals and remain a loyal customer.
5. Gather and utilize feedback from recent happy buyers
Consumers familiar with shopping online are overwhelmingly satisfied with their dealership experience, with 77% expressing this sentiment. Harness the power of your happy customers and make it easy for them to spread the word for you. Build the feedback-solicitation process into the car-buying experience.
This is especially important because 90% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business, and almost the same percentage trust these reviews the way they trust personal recommendations. More than half of shoppers say that the most important factor when choosing a dealership is the dealer’s reputation.
Building trust with the modern car buyer will help enhance and solidify your reputation. You can accomplish this by understanding what car buyers want, utilizing technology to your advantage, giving customers the ability to shop online, and then seamlessly moving the process forward. To learn more about how you can build trust with modern car buyers, visit Dealer.com.
A version of this article originally appeared in Digital Dealer.
As a dealer, you understand that selling cars is a people business. There’s an actual human being at the other end of every transaction. Every car you sell or service is connected to a person with an opinion. And in a day and age when everything gets shared on online, their opinions about your dealership and their experience are fair game.
Unfortunately, far too many opinions that get shared online tend to skew negative. The squeaky wheels get the grease and the happy customers are less likely to share their views. But there is a way to generate more positive reviews and leverage positive opinions to your advantage.
If you don’t have a system in place for generating reviews and giving voice to satisfied customers, the unsatisfied customer reviews will probably paint an inaccurate picture of your dealership online.
Make online reviews a priority. Take the time to research the right technology and technology partner to realize the benefits of this resource. Doing so can help you generate more positive reviews and turn those reviews into a viable auto dealer marketing tool to build your brand and boost sales.
Make It Personal
Consumers that had a negative experience with your dealership are more prone to leaving reviews. But if you ask your happy customers to leave a review, you may be surprised how many come through for you.
The key to these requests is personalization. Your customers are much more likely to respond to a review generation request when you make it personal to them because they’re already receiving so much spam.
An always-on, customizable, personalized review solicitation solution makes it easy for your customers to leave positive feedback. By sending a text (on of your customers’ preferred way to communicate) either from your phone or automatically, right after a sales or service transaction, you can increase the overall volume of positive customer reviews.
Integrate Your SEO and Review Generation Services
Did you know that 59% of shoppers believe reputation is the single most important factor when choosing a dealership? Having a coordinated digital strategy can unify your online presence, communicate the same coordinated messages across your digital channels, and build your brand reputation.
When actual customers share reviews that reflect the same messaging as your automotive SEO, it reinforces your customer service commitment online and delivers valuable content that attracts additional shoppers.
This type of coordinate car dealer SEO and Review Generation effort also involves monitoring all relevant digital properties and thoughtfully responding to all reviews in lockstep with auto SEO service best practices. It’s a smart way to turn every customer interaction into a powerful selling tool.
Start with the Right Team
Just as there are real people at the other end of every dealership transaction, it takes real people to manage your dealership’s reputation. To implement a successful review generation strategy and generate more positive review, you have to have a dedicated team that knows the automotive industry.
Take the time to find a team that can deliver real results by creating a customized review and review response strategy that is informed by proven best practices. And, make sure that team is made up of knowledgeable, industry-savvy marketers, not just review generation experts.
Every customer has an opinion, and the overwhelming majority of those opinions are positive for most dealerships. If you can harness the power of those opinions by prioritizing review generation, making review solicitation personal, integrating your digital strategy, and partnering with the right team, you can generate more positive review and drive business.
Why are some digital shopping experiences more successful than others? What motivates consumers to move through the digital shopping experience with one dealership and drop off with another?
These are complicated questions with more than one answer, but in the end it all comes down to the consumer experience. What consumers want, consumers get, even if they have to shop at a different dealership.
Pay attention to these key consumer interests when it comes to implementing your digital shopping experience.
Complete More Steps Online
Consumers don’t want to spend a lot of time at the dealership, no matter how they choose to buy their cars. One major difference between various digital shopping experiences involves the number of steps the consumer can complete online (and as a result, the amount of time spent at the dealership).
As recently as 2018, consumers were spending approximately 3 hours at the dealership, just to get a deal done. Two years later, with more dealers incorporating elements of a digital shopping experience, that time decreased to an average of 2 hours and 37 minutes.
For consumers who complete at least 50% of the car buying process online, time spend at the dealership went down even more dramatically to about 2 hours. Even more telling, consumer satisfaction increased as more dealers offered a digital buying experience and the amount of time spent at dealership decreased.
Implement Steps Customers Want
It’s not just the number of steps in your digital shopping experience that matter. The specific steps that you include within that experience can convince car buyer leads to do business with your dealership.
The following steps are the basic building blocks of a digital shopping experience. Even if you already incorporate them as part of your digital shopping experience, it’s important to communicate and promote their availability to your prospective dealer leads.
Personalized Payments: Most customers are payment shoppers. They want to know as much about their future car payment as possible. This key information will help them decide whether or not to continue down the path to purchase. Give your consumers the tools to create all aspects of their deal structure online.
Incentives and Rebates: Every consumer wants to get a good deal on their new car purchase. They want to know that they’re getting every possible incentive and rebate available. Be upfront with your shoppers about what they can expect to receive and make incentives and rebates an integral part of the digital shopping experience.
Trade Valuation: Consumers know that their trade-ins carry value. If they don’t think they can include their trade-in as part of the digital deal, they may shy away you’re your digital shopping experience. In fact, according to Cox Automotive data, 80% of all digital deals include a trade. It’s an important part of the car buying experience for the majority of consumers.
Credit Application: If one of the main goals of the digital shopping experience is to promote convenience (and reduce time at the dealership), including a credit application is near the top of every customer’s digital shopping checklist. Offer an online credit application to give you a better idea of consumers’ credit worthiness and allow them to pre-qualify, even before they step foot in the dealership.
Test Drive: What would the car buying experience be without a test drive. It’s the time when consumer meets car and matches are made. Including the ability to self-schedule a test drive as part of the digital car buying experience allows consumers to make their own appointments and take that all-important next step toward buying their next car.
Transform Your Digital Shopping Experience
Again, what motivates consumers is a complicated question, and these are just a few of the basic elements of a digital shopping experience. You may also consider including:
Offsite test drives
The option for home delivery
The ability to view and buy vehicle protection products
Virtual tours and test drives
Remote deal signing
Vehicle reservation
Service scheduling
Just remember, in general, consumers appreciate the opportunity to complete more steps online and spend less time at the dealership. It saves them time and differentiates your dealership’s digital shopping experience from the host of online competitors.
To learn more about how your dealership can transform the digital buying experience, check out Dealer.com Manager of Performance Management B. Malaczewski’s recent webinar, all about differentiating the digital buying process. You can also learn more about delivering the kind of digital shopping experience your customers want at Dealer.com.
