With the past several years keeping dealers, OEM’s and the industry on its toes…. It’s no wonder many of us were holding our breaths as the results from Cox Automotive’s 14th annual Car Buyer Journey (CBJ) study came in. However, the results and insights from the highly anticipated study nearly 3,000 respondents who purchased or leased their vehicles in the previous year made two things are clear:
First, Dealers and the automotive industry on a whole have emerged as massively resilient in 2023. Second, things appear to be normalizing. (Knock on wood.)
While ‘normal’ may be a relatively subjective term in the automotive industry, especially over the past four years with the highest inflation we’ve seen in 40 years, record profits, heavily fluctuating inventory, and the rapid shift to digitization… We might finally be at the point we can officially categorize those times as historic and move forward. The CBJ findings signified that bridge into something more level.
The data from the Car Buying Journey offers critical insights that help dealers, OEMs and or industry on a whole determine key changes in consumer buying behavior. Together, let’s look at how the changed consumer behaviors discovered are shaping the car-buying experience, vehicle ownership and digitization both now, as well as for the road forward.
Invest in the Customer Experience for the Long Haul
It’s a keeper! That’s the overall sentiment from the 2023 Car Buyer Journey Study of vehicle owners who planned to hold onto their vehicles. This was one of the more surprising results uncovered from the Car Buyer Journey (CBJ) study as it showed that ride shares and subscription models don’t quite hold the allure they did five years ago. Car ownership is not only here to stay but is increasing.
And while that means your buyers may be slow to return to your sales floor to consider a trade-in or newer model, that doesn’t mean they won’t need to hear from you. Those shifting mindsets around vehicle ownership indicate that more personal usage, more service needs and more consumers adding to their household fleet. It’s presenting you a unique opportunity to build on your relationships with your existing customer base and attract the attention of previous and potential customers.
With the results showing that the number of buyers motivated to own more than one car is increasing, why would you let them buy from a dealer down the street when they already have a relationship with you? It’s time to hit the phones (or emails or texts!) and reach out to current and former customers to get them in for regular service and maintenance.
Going forward: Use the data within your CRM and first-party data and activate it! Reach out in their preferred method, follow up on past customers and make sure current customers know how much you appreciate their previous business. Keeping their best interests as your priority while keeping their vehicles in good working condition is part of the relationship building process. You already have their information on file, so give a personalized experience and show you know who they are, want they want, and should remain their dealer and service department of choice.
91% of respondents plan on keeping their own car for their primary mode of transportation for the next five years
Satisfaction with Shopping Journey Surged
In case no one has told you lately, you’re doing a great job. That’s according to the results from the Car Buyer Journey which indicated that overall satisfaction from the shopping journey surged in 2023 from 61% to 69% overall. With inventory levels returning to pre-pandemic levels, your buyers are returning to peruse your vehicle selection. They also enjoy more options, greater deals and incentives rolling back in, as well as more responsive communications from your sales team.
Going forward: Don’t lose this momentum! Build off the enhanced experience most dealers focused on. Keep in mind that your competition down the block is working just as hard, or harder, to get the attention of shoppers as well. If you let a lead go uncontacted for too long, they’ll find a better deal or better experience, and fast. Don’t forget – Autotrader’s technology is backed by Cox Automotive’s first-party data to deliver AI-driven insights and predictions that help you create more powerful, engaging, and personalized shopping experiences. They don’t just drive leads… they drive real results.
A Personalized, Optimized and Online Experience is King
In the past five years, shoppers took their automotive search online, and, thanks to rapid innovations, resoundingly gave feedback they enjoyed their experience. Time spent searching online went down as digitization made the process smoother and more efficient.
40 minutes was the total time saved at the dealership of purchase for mostly digital buyers vs. light buyers
Going Forward: Build on the trust and transparency established as more buyers use third-party sites than OEM sites to look for their next vehicle. Activate insights and leverage the data from third parties like Autotrader and Kelley Blue BookTM to send personalized messages to buyers. The right message, at the right time, in the right way will help you get them in the funnel faster and help you close the deal.
57% of auto-shoppers visited a third-party site without using an OEM site
Don’t Let Good Enough Be Good Enough
According to the Car Buyer Journey study, the dealership experience was reported as even better in 2023. That’s great. What’s even better than “even better”? There’s still opportunities for improvement to take those higher consumer satisfaction ratings up a notch or two. That’s because shoppers who submitted an enhanced lead before going into the dealership were even happier than the rest.
Enhanced leads make the car-buying process smoother and easier for both sides. Your buyers is happier because they get a more customized, personalized experience that is faster and more transparent, and you get a customer that has shown out the gate they are more serious. It’s a win-win for both sides and makes everyone happier throughout the deal process.
Going Forward: Be the dealership who takes customer satisfaction to the next level by encouraging enhanced lead form submissions. Take your enhanced leads and focus on creating the ultimate personalized experience for them. They gave you more information… now the ball is in your court to tailor the purchase process to what they’ve already shared with you they want, need, prefer and prioritize.
77% of shoppers who submitted an enhanced lead online reported being more satisfied with the dealership purchase experience
The Omnichannel Movement Continues its Momentum
We all know that when dealerships fully embraced digitization and consumer buying habits shifted the way the world interacted with shoppers, the industry did something unique: it
blended the online and in-person experience into the ‘omnichannel experience’. And it doesn’t look like we’re ever turning back.
Car buyers are now moving towards a mix of in-person and online steps. The key is to have different ways to buy based on the shoppers preference, then ensure that the deal carries forward no matter online or in-person. Seamlessness is the name of the game, and the modern dealers that make this the nucleus of their strategy are seeing some pretty big payoffs in both consumer satisfaction and driving profits.
Going forward: There’s still room for improvement, particularly in the financing steps of the car-buying process. Could you make digital forms easier to find for potential customers? Have you educated everyone on assisting consumers through the new omnichannel experience?
We all know that when dealerships fully embraced digitization and consumer buying habits shifted the way the world interacted with shoppers, the industry did something unique: it
blended the online and in-person experience into the ‘omnichannel experience’. And it doesn’t look like we’re ever turning back.
Car buyers are now moving towards a mix of in-person and online steps. The key is to have different ways to buy based on the shoppers preference, then ensure that the deal carries forward no matter online or in-person. Seamlessness is the name of the game, and the modern dealers that make this the nucleus of their strategy are seeing some pretty big payoffs in both consumer satisfaction and driving profits.
Going forward: There’s still room for improvement, particularly in the financing steps of the car-buying process. Could you make digital forms easier to find for potential customers? Have you educated everyone on assisting consumers through the new omnichannel experience?
81% of shoppers surveyed said digital retailing improved the overall buying experience
For the Road Forward
Understanding consumer behavior, no matter what economic or industry hurdles you may be facing, puts you in a primed position. When you center your business and marketing strategy around today’s shoppers wants, needs, preferences and prirorities, you’ll be able to deliver a next-level customer experience to not only capture their attention, but also close the deal.
All that shaking and shifting of the past few years led to digitization and innovations that have shown to be positively affecting not only the auto consumers experience, but also their satisfaction. With normalization taking center stage in this year’s Car Buyer Journey study, we’re starting to see lasting effects of a shifted narrative which are helping dealers have the success they’re after.
Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book, backed by the power of Cox Automotive, continues to be the connected partner you need in today’s times to power your business forward. Together, we’re providing the solutions and products car buyers demand, to help you get the results you need.
Want to hear more about the Car Buyer Journey Study from one of the lead senior researchers Vanessa Ton with Cox Automotive? Then register for an exclusive behind-the-scenes opportunity hosted on Automotive News.
Sources:
(1) Comscore data, Autotrader and KBB.com traffic combined
(2) 2023 Car and Buyer Journey Study
