Connect Cox Automotive’s full suite of dealership solutions to elevate customer experiences, improve sales, and exceed business goals.
Integrating Dealer.com Websites with VinSolutions CRM allows dealers to capture shopper intent earlier on in the buying journey. This helps to deliver more customized and relevant offers by tracking consumer behavior across Cox Automotive properties.
Dealers using both VinSolutions CRM and Automotive Marketing Platform (AMP) can create highly personalized landing pages that enhance customer engagement and dealership relevance.
The seamless connection between VinSolutions and Dealer.com Digital Retailing streamlines the sales process by providing real-time shopper activity, automated alerts, and uninterrupted deal workflows from online to in-store interactions.
Generate more online leads with exclusive, connected Cox Automotive proprietary data.
Interested in learning more? Download our infographic:
As the digital age continues to advance at lightning speed, consumer preferences are evolving just as quickly. Understanding these shifts is crucial in providing an excellent customer experience while driving business success. Based on insights from the Cox Automotive 2023 Digitization of Car Buying Study, it becomes evident that convenience, choice, and flexibility are paramount for today’s consumers, including in the automotive industry.
Convenience: The Cornerstone of Modern Purchasing
Consumers today are juggling busy schedules and expect brands to accommodate their need for convenience. In the realm of car buying, this means offering a seamless, end-to-end digital retailing experience. According to the Digitization of Car Buying study, nearly all dealers believe digital retailing positively impacts their business, particularly in customer experience and satisfaction.
Key Insights:
High Satisfaction: Consumers appreciate digital retailing solutions, with personal connections emerging as a significant benefit.
Seamless Experience: Shoppers prefer a seamless transition from online to in-store without having to repeat information, emphasizing the need for integrated systems that facilitate this.
Frictionless Process: Digital tools in-store enable a frictionless sales process, saving time for both customers and dealers.
Providing a convenient shopping experience will keep your customers coming back.
Choice: Empowering Consumers with Options
In an era where personalization is king, offering a variety of options is not a luxury but a necessity. Consumers want to feel that their unique needs and preferences are being met, and this extends to their car-buying journey.
Key Insights:
Online Purchase Process: Forty-nine percent of dealers are offering customers the ability to complete each step of the deal online, providing the choice to engage with the buying process in a way that suits them best.
Hybrid Environment: Many shoppers appreciate a hybrid shopping environment where they can start online and finish in-store. Dealers are embracing new tools to enhance this experience.
When consumers have options, they feel empowered and valued, making them more likely to choose your dealership over others.
Flexibility: Adapting to Consumer Needs
Flexibility in purchasing options isn’t just about offering various channels; it’s about adapting to the consumer’s changing needs and preferences. The Cox Automotive report highlights the importance of digital interactions and the willingness of shoppers to provide personal information for a more tailored experience.
Key Insights:
Personalized Interactions: Shoppers are willing to share detailed information like income, credit score, and vehicle usage data to enable an ideal, personalized experience.
Open Communication: Consumers often reach out to dealers with deal-related questions remotely while preferring to manage the later stages of the deal in person. It’s important be ready for how and when consumers want to engage.
By being adaptable, you can meet your customers exactly where they are, making the entire buying process smoother and more enjoyable.
The Value of Multi-Channel Purchasing Options
Whether it’s through a robust e-commerce platform or digital tools in-store, multiple channels allow consumers to engage with your brand in the manner that suits them best, enhancing overall satisfaction.
Ecommerce has revolutionized the car-buying process. Consumers can now browse inventory, compare prices, and even finalize deals from the comfort of their homes. This level of convenience and flexibility is invaluable, especially when dealing with high-ticket items like vehicles (read this blog about where we think automotive ecommerce is today).
Enhanced Customer Experience: Ecommerce platforms streamline the buying process, reducing friction points and making it easier for consumers to make informed decisions.
Consistency is Key: Ensuring price and inventory consistency across all channels is crucial. Discrepancies can lead to frustration and a negative customer experience.
Data-Driven Insights: Online interactions provide valuable data that can help improve accuracy and the verification process, ultimately leading to higher customer satisfaction.
Giving Car Buyers What They Want
Today, consumers value convenience, choice, and flexibility more than ever. Leveraging these insights to enhance your digital retailing capabilities can lead to significant business benefits. By offering a seamless, multi-channel purchasing experience, you can meet the evolving needs of your customers and stay ahead of the competition.
Making the buying process as smooth and enjoyable as possible will leave a lasting positive impression on your customers.
Ready to take your dealership to the next level? Embrace multi-channel retailing and offer your customers the convenience, choice, and flexibility they crave. With Cox Automotive solutions, you enhance customer satisfaction and drive your business forward in this digital age.
We are committed to partnering with our clients to provide a best-in-class website user experience and have created a comprehensive playbook sharing just how. Discover key metrics for website performance, learn how to assess your site’s status, and explore strategies to enhance user engagement.
In the dynamic landscape of digital marketing, staying ahead of the curve is essential. Enter Dealer.com’s Campaign Widget, your secret weapon for effortlessly promoting specials and delivering relevant content to your website visitors.
Imagine a world where you can bid farewell to the hassle of editing graphics for various devices, juggling multiple platforms, and navigating ever-changing regulations. The Campaign Widget ensures that your content shines across all screens, from smartphones to desktops, while adhering to ADA and OEM compliance. Plus, it’s smart—tailoring content to each shopper’s unique browsing behavior.
Whether you prefer slideshows, banners, or coupons, the Campaign Widget empowers you to make the most of your digital real estate. Ready to elevate your online presence? Dive into the future of content optimization today!
Integrated Messaging Software for Unparalleled Customer Experiences
ActivEngage Messaging Software revolutionizes your website by effortlessly integrating live messaging, providing endless opportunities for customer engagement. This integration goes beyond the surface, as it is intricately woven into the entire Cox Automotive suite of web applications and services, ensuring a comprehensive approach to digital customer experiences.
Imagine your website visitors being warmly welcomed by well-trained experts around the clock, offering personalized assistance and guidance. With ActivEngage, there’s no need to worry about frustrating chatbots or impersonal automated responses. Each interaction is managed by highly skilled professionals, guaranteeing a fulfilling interaction experience for every shopper. Get ready for unmatched engagement possibilities!
The online shopping landscape has changed. The era of flexible car buying options is here and dealerships must adapt to meet evolving consumer preferences.
Across the internet, today’s online shopping experience allows consumers to effortlessly add groceries to their online carts and pick them up at the store or have them delivered. It’s all about choice and convenience, and increasingly they expect a similar flexible retailing experience when shopping for cars.
As a first step, embracing an omnichannel strategy can help encourage consumers to rethink their car shopping journey.
At Cox, we define omnichannel as not limiting the shopper to choosing an online or offline experience. A consumer can begin their deal online, take it offline, and even go back online again, moving freely between the two to complete their deal.
According to the 2022 Cox Automotive Digitization of End-to-End Retail Study, 92% of shoppers say they will complete their next vehicle purchase entirely online or through a combination of online and in-store.
We see trends toward omnichannel because consumers still want the choice to talk with a person at the dealership to learn some of the cars’ features, do a test drive, and understand their finance options. Regardless of where the purchase starts (online or in-store) or where a deal is completed, retailers need to make the process as efficient, streamlined and fluid as possible.
Our products and solutions at Cox Automotive allow you to offer the flexibility car shoppers expect. Streamlining the online to offline experience will be key, and preparing your dealership should start today.
Implementing Flexible Retailing Experiences
Achieving an effective flexible retailing experience requires careful planning and strategic implementation. Here are some key strategies to consider:
Use digital and AI-powered tools that provide a single view of the customer, predict what they like based on their behaviors, and extend a personalized experience if they transition into the store.
Keep shoppers’ information safe and let them know you take their privacy seriously.
Make shoppers feel more confident by using digital tools in the store. This makes it easier to go over information they’ve already given online and make sure everything is correct.
Tell shoppers to review financing options on your website. They can pick extras and send in their financial details to get a good idea of the total cost, including fees and taxes.
Source: Cox Automotive 2023 Digitization of Car Buying
Ecommerce is an Essential Ingredient
Looking at retail flexibility as a spectrum, shoppers range from wanting to do everything in-store to wanting to do everything online.
True automotive ecommerce is a full end-to-end online experience from vehicle selection through to the purchase and even delivery (read this blog about where we think automotive ecommerce is today.)
The combination of ecommerce—which offers true online checkout—and a flexible shopping experience has created a new model of retail that combines the best of both worlds. In the shift toward ecommerce, it is vital to adapt to online shoppers’ needs, and implementing a flexible retail strategy will increase your chances of success.
Ecommerce, powered by technology, automation, and machine learning, allows a consumer to complete their transaction at their own pace and to provide the relevant information as needed, whether that’s within the next week or the next month.
Dealers who are ready to implement ecommerce today are at the forefront of industry innovation, catering to changing preferences, creating a customer-centric shopping experience, businesses can unlock new potential in retail and gain a competitive edge.
For dealerships who are looking to thrive by offering flexible shopping experiences, an omnichannel approach with the integration of true ecommerce is essential. By partnering with Cox Automotive, dealers can launch advanced functionality to elevate the car buying experience and stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly evolving market.
At Dealer.com, we firmly believe the quality of your leads is directly tied to the effectiveness of your website. We are committed to continued enhancement our core solution, ensuring that your digital storefront is:
Designed to deliver results.
Personalized with elements that shoppers expect.
Developed with a mobile-first mindset and optimized for any smart device.
Data-driven, activating shopper insights to enhance the consumer experience.
At the 2024 NADA show, we’re excited to unveil four enhancements that will significantly boost your website’s performance:
1. A Modern Shopping Experience
Consumers crave a smoother online shopping journey when looking for vehicles online. Our new enhancements and updates ensure your website has the latest and greatest technology:
Site Speed Upgrades: Enhancing loading speed for large images and text blogs, ensuring a faster and more satisfying experience.
Simplified Search Results Page: Decluttering the Search Results Page (SRP) for easier vehicle discovery and the ability to scan through more inventory.
ADA Compliance: Improving accessibility to cater to users of all abilities or unique needs.
2. Recommended Vehicles Widget
Our recommended vehicles widget uses the Consumer Vehicle Recommendation Engine (CVRE) for a more modernized approach to viewing vehicles. Rather than relying on third-party cookies, our widget identifies a higher percentage of visitors and personalizes displayed vehicles based on their shopping preferences. In cases where vehicle recommendations can’t be personalized for the consumer, the widget shows your featured inventory or new vehicle arrivals.
Dealers are experiencing a 170% increase in click-through rate by displaying more relevant vehicles.*
3. New Homepage Designs
Your homepage is usually the first place a shopper will land when accessing your website. With seven new stylistic enhancements, our new home page options will incorporate a modern and effective path for solving their automotive shopping needs.
4. Mobile Lot Capture Tool
Mobile Lot Capture, a modernized scanning tool, allows dealers to take and upload photos directly from the lot. The mobile-friendly experience includes features like dropdowns for clarity, optimized filters, manual vehicle addition, and sorting functionality. Additionally, the integration of Mobile Lot Capture into Inventory Manager ensures a seamless and streamlined workflow.
Includes built-in VIN Scanner to enter new vehicles, shoot consistent imagery using the Shot Profile tool and quickly identify and address vehicles missing important information from your Dealer.com website.
Creating more engaging websites with the dealer and consumer in mind is at the core of what we do best. Visit the Dealer.com booth at the 2024 NADA Show to explore how our new and enhanced solutions can elevate your website metrics and help you achieve more success.
*LookerStudio/Google Analytics, VDP Click through rate comparing 5/15 -6/7/23 to after 6/29/23
As a leading provider of digital marketing solutions for the automotive industry, Cox Automotive has been closely watching and keeping our partners apprised of developments that affect their ability to reach consumers and grow their business.
For nearly two years, we have been anticipating a time when consumers’ desire for web browsing privacy – and regulators’ intention to mandate it – would come together to kill the tracking cookie as we’ve known it. With the September 2023 release of Google’s Chrome browser update, we’re seeing that moment inching closer.
Until recently, any website could add a cookie to a user’s browser and track them wherever they went online, storing the information on the site’s server. Often companies would partner to exchange this data to get more insights into a user’s behaviors and preferences. This allowed them to target their marketing more effectively to consumers who had demonstrated their interests.
With the Chrome update, Google now stores user behavior and activity data within the browser where advertisers cannot access it. The Google Chrome developers’ site says it is phasing out support for third-party cookies beginning in mid-2024.
Wondering what this could mean for your business? We addressed some focus areas and most asked questions that Cox is prioritizing to stay abreast of the cookieless future so our dealers can continue having success.
AUDIENCE SEGMENTATION AND ACTIVATION
To address ongoing cookie loss when using third-party pixels, Cox is moving to Server-Side Data connections and APIs. This will allow us to have more durable data signals while remaining privacy compliant. We will also consider Clean Room solutions to provide a secure environment to bring data from different places together for joint analysis. Adhering to privacy parameters and creating the safest place for data sharing and transfer will be extremely important.
For first-party pixels, we’ll continue using Cox Automotive Identity Graph to help us track and use specific IDs or personal consumer information. To maximize this approach, we want to help ensure your dealer websites are focused on collecting identifiable information, like consumer email addresses or logins during browsing sessions.
CAMPAIGN AND CONSUMER ANALYTICS AND TRACKING
Campaign Performance and Tracking
We expect to see fewer conversions being tracked overall. We also expect to see increases in discrepancies from our data verification partners since some data points that are monitored rely on cookies. (e.g., Our verification partner may see the user as being outside their geography when the delivery platform does not.)
Server-side will be able to handle signal resiliency issues for the platforms that have Conversions APIs available (mostly social platforms). For other platforms, curated solutions are in developed.
Consumer Journey Analytics
Some blocking solutions on browsers will strip some of our tracking mechanisms by default. This would impact some reporting elements for dealers. Since the consumer journey will rely more heavily on identifiable information collected during website visits such as email address or logins, it’s more important than ever to focus on first-party data activation. Read this Dealer.com article on how to collect, connect, and activate your first-party data as you prepare for the cookieless future.
Additionally, Chrome released an article in August 2023 about Related Website Sets. This may be a solution to customer journey breakage that relies on first-party cookies.
At Cox, we are committed to helping our dealers throughout the deprecation of third-party cookies. We will continue working on ways to ensure our dealers feel confident with this industry shift and will be there every step of the way to ensure maximum success. We will continue releasing information about the approach we are taking to tackle the future with no third-party cookies.
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.
As the majority of us know, there are really big benefits to both having and collecting first-party data for your business. Think of your contacts, your customers, your leads, your website, your insights, your predictions… Everything that you have been collecting since the day your doors first opened and website went live at your dealership.
Your revenue sits in that first-party data. Or more importantly the strategy tied to it. And you can unlock many benefits and advantages by learning new ways of how to activate that data. Especially with a cookieless future quickly approaching on the horizon. In an ever-shifting automotive industry and world, your first-party data will help you stay a step ahead.
When it comes to your business and marketing goals, it’s essential to understand and map out where your dealership or brand is today, and where you’ve set your sites on going. Data can and should be a leading driver to help you successfully do this.
So together, let’s take a closer look at how your activated data can help you stand out to your ideal customer in your marketing efforts, mix-match-modernize your strategy, and help you map out your step by step as digital retailing and our industry bridges towards an eCommerce future.
It’s time to re-strategize how you’re activating your dealership’s data
Part of activating your data is interpreting and acting on the insights, especially when it comes to what your consumer wants, needs and prefers. However, your existing methods of activating your first-party data don’t quite work the same way anymore.
It’s time to revamp your strategy to accommodate the changing landscape of the industry and connect to new shopper insights.
Educate and Demonstrate: Remember, how we do business, where we do business and who we do business with has and will continue to shift. You need to make sure that your marketing strategy includes educating and demonstrating to the consumer you have the cars, service, experience and capabilities they want and are willing to show them how to use them.
Some of these consumers will be existing customers, but they might need reminders of how your business has evolved. And some of these consumers will be part of the heightened 56% of cross-shopping auto buyers who are open to and entertaining a different brand and type of car. Educate and demonstrate the advantages of doing business with you and what makes your brand the one they should choose. They’re new and haven’t had the first-hand experience yet, so give them the virtual experience and highlight hallmark values and experiences your brand offers.
Communicate the Way TheyPrefer: If you’re not communicating the way your consumer prefers, you are definitely missing out on business and probably losing some of your current customers. This year’s Cox Automotive annual Car Buyer Journey Study revealed that for the two growing segments of in-market auto shoppers, their preferences for communication steer them towards who they ultimately decide to do business with.
And what they prefer when it comes to communication is ease, a frictionless experience, and in their preferred method. For many that means texts, having chat available on your site, and instant buttons so they can quickly complete their desired actions.
Shifting Parts or All of the Car-Buying Process Online: Both of the growing segments of auto shoppers surveyed in the 2022 Car Buyer Journey Study said they prefer to buy online – with 75% of them saying within the next 5 years they would buy a vehicle entirely online. They’re a growing target, currently completing 10 out of 13 of the purchase steps online.
It’s an Amazon buying world. Consumers are open to and moving toward being more comfortable with buying high ticket items online, like cars, predominately online as well. Look at what you currently offer with your digital retailing tools and map out what steps you still need to go towards a fully eCommerce future. We have a few suggestions and items to consider when doing that below!
Rome was not built in a day, but it was built brick by brick. And so should your digital marketing strategy – lean the most on your first-party data to be your bedrock foundation and the digital retailing tools you have supporting, feeding and connecting your customers to what they want and need.
It’s time to gear up for the new speed of retail
Digital retailing tools continue to grow and expand how auto dealers do business and plan their marketing strategies. This digital foundation was laid in our industry during the pandemic with the goal of a better shopping experience. As satisfaction levels continue to likewise grow with the online experience, so should your focus on adding more digital retail solutions and capabilities as well as connecting them with your first-party data to help drive your business.
Did you know 70% of shoppers are more likely to buy
From a dealer if they can start the process online?
The new speed of retail is here, and shoppers expect 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 your dealership is on the low end of the eCommerce spectrum only offering a few digital retailing tools, or are fully automated and full-spectrum eCommerce ready, there are distinct advantages to mixing, matching and modernizing your digital retail strategy. And first-party data should be the core pillar of how you’re connecting it all and moving forward, especially in a cookieless future.
As we touched on before, by alleviating your consumer’s pain points, and activating your first-party data with personalization, you’ll have the ability to not only stand out to your ideal customer and retain existing customers, but you’ll also have the ability to improve your customer’s experience in the following ways reported in the annual 2022 Car Buyer Journey Study. In a cookieless future this is where your revenue will have the ability to grow.
In-market auto shoppers and buyers reported the following satisfaction levels and advantages with transacting online:
88% – Save time at the dealership
86% – Save time with the buying / leasing process
83% – Seamlessness of continuing the online buying transaction in store where they left off
81% – Improved the overall buying experience
78% – Greater transparency with pricing
By connecting your first-party data to your existing and future digital retail tools, you’ll not only give your consumers what they’re looking for, but you’ll set yourself up for increased exposure and reach, the ability to turn vehicles more quickly, increase your opportunities for acquisition and inventory and close more deals. More specifically… profitable deals!
Automotive digital retailing vs. eCommerce: What’s the difference?
There is often confusion when it comes to the differences between digital retailing and eCommerce. While they both start online, that’s where the similarities both begin and end.
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.
Digital retailing: Largely supported by a person at your dealership: There are many steps that digital retailing can connect. 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. So, while technology plays a big role, the process is largely supported by a person in the dealership.
eCommerce: A fully digital transaction: On the other hand, eCommerce also begins with the consumer starting the deal online. But the key difference is that a consumer can take a self-paced fashion, working through the deal all the way through digitally signing the contract package and scheduling the delivery of the vehicle. The process is also supported by F&I automation primarily, not dealership personnel. Most dealerships have dedicated eCommerce teams who solely focus on these end-to-end online transactions.
If adding an eCommerce channel isn’t feasible in the near future, digital retailing can still satisfy those digitally savvy shoppers. Consumer research confirms that not every consumer wants the same results from their online experience. In fact, 9 out of 10* prefer a flexible, personalized buying experience. Make it simple for customers to explore the information they are comfortable researching (inventory, trade-in values, financing terms/payments, F&I products) and move the process to the dealership when they are ready.
Aside from leveraging digital retail and eCommerce solutions to provide seamless transitions between digital and physical interactions, training your entire team (not just your BDC) on switching between online and offline interactions goes a long way. You’ll see increased confidence, improved satisfaction and the consumer will appreciate this more personalized and efficient way of doing business.
For the road forward
A cookieless future isn’t as worrisome when you put your first-party data to use. By revisiting your current marketing strategy, mixing-matching-modernizing your digital retailing tools to connect them to your data, and planning everything your dealership does from the top down on how you’ll grow your eCommerce business, you’ll stay a step ahead of your competitors and align your dealership for success in the future.
As technology continues to evolve, activating first-party data is essential for every auto dealer, whether your business is brick-and-mortar or strictly eCommerce. You’ll gain insights into consumer behavior and preferences, improve customer experience, and optimize your marketing campaigns and dollars.
It’s time to start shifting from just collecting first-party data to activating and connecting it. Because when you do, you’ll quickly see the difference it can make for your business to increase conversions and your profits.
Cox Automotive has the most connected and comprehensive view of the automotive industry and offers unmatched data and insights into consumer behavior, automotive trends, and operational best practices. Whatever your goals, we can help you get there faster to stay a step ahead and successful in today’s marketplace.
WWant to hear all the ways to fully activate your first party data? Catch the replay of a unique webinar opportunity with Automotive News hosted by Jade Terreberry and Noah Lee. They’ll share examples of actions you should take now, and outline strategies successful dealerships and OEMs are implementing to make the most of your marketing efforts and dollars. Sign up for the watch webinar.
