Cox Automotive has been conducting the Car Buyer Journey Study for the past 14 years to determine the key changes in consumer buying behavior. The study was conducted from August to September of 2023, with nearly 3,000 respondents who purchased or leased their vehicles within the previous year.
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:
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:
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
Author: Paulo da Silva, VP of Ecommerce Operations
In the first installment of our two-part ecommerce blog series, we examined the overarching focus areas that dealers must prioritize to be successful in embracing automotive ecommerce. Let’s take a closer look at what dealers can do today to better position themselves for ecommerce success.
The process of purchasing a car online can be daunting for consumers. This is a huge financial decision that involves emotion, research (According to the Cox Automotive 2023 Car Buyer Journey, third-party sites are their go-to source and usage have ramped up since 2021), and a ton of consideration. But what can alleviate customer concerns with buying online? The answer is TRUST – both in the dealership and the condition and quality of the vehicles you’re selling. Establishing trust and transparency is paramount, considering the significant commitment involved in buying a car online. Unlike adding items to an Amazon cart, purchasing a car is a huge investment for most and holds profound meaning, demanding confidence that the purchase will be smooth, and that the dealership will take care of the customer.
There are three tangible ways to build that needed trust: credible vehicle content, a mature review program, and preparation for a data-intensive future.
As a dealer, you may realize you’re already on the right track, finding success in your current efforts with trust building. Alternatively, this blog might inspire you to accelerate your implementation, discovering that you’re positioning yourself for ecommerce on a smaller scale sooner than expected.
1. Building Trust and Transparency Through Vehicle Content
Emphasize the Crucial Role of Vehicle Condition: Beyond standard photos, consumers are increasingly expecting walk-around and 360 videos to gain a comprehensive view of your vehicles. As it allows customers to view and explore the product in more detail, resulting in a more informed buying decision. In fact, we’ve heard directly from our ecommerce dealers that adding 360 views for vehicles has increased the likelihood of the vehicle being added to their cart.
The dealers leading this charge are taking trust a step further and disclosing all (or most) vehicle blemishes, and detailed vehicle inspections.
But to reveal the findings of your vehicle inspection or reconditioning work, you must make this information consumer-facing. Navigating the disclosure of data to consumers can be challenging, especially when reconditioning information uses industry acronyms and shorthand that might be unfamiliar to customers. Overcoming this hurdle requires creative thinking. Managing data transparency poses a notable challenge. One approach is to cautiously reveal essential report aspects without inundating consumers with exhaustive details. Experiment with phased testing to secure smaller victories and assess positive outcomes. For instance, consider initially releasing this information for certain cars or disclosing specific details, like the installation of new tires, rather than all inspection/reconditioning data. The aim is to strike a balance that conveys transparency without sacrificing clarity.
2. Developing a Robust Review Program
When it comes to consumer decision-making, online reviews have evolved into a cornerstone of research, influencing the choices of 88% of online shoppers.
Harnessing the power of positive customer reviews (Read this blog for a deeper dive on how to generate more positive reviews) is integral to increasing traffic and attracting leads to your dealership. Without a structured system for cultivating reviews and amplifying the voices of satisfied customers, negative reviews may create an inaccurate online portrayal of your dealership.
Make online reviews a priority. And ensure your reviews come from verified customers, as this increases your credibility and further fosters trust with shoppers. 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.
Here are a few things you should consider as you get started:
Establishing a solid review process can mean more money in your pocket, serving as a valuable foundation, especially in the ecommerce landscape. When a consumer decides to purchase a car via a distance dealer, having the confidence that they are buying a vehicle from a reputable dealership that is going to take care of them throughout the entire car buying process is critical.
3. Preparing for a Data-Intense World
The automotive industry is undergoing significant transformations, with new technologies enhancing efficiency in daily workflows. Customer expectations for quicker transactions are on the rise, as highlighted by the Cox Automotive Future of Digital Retailing Study, where less than half of consumers express satisfaction with the car buying process duration. And dealerships are consolidating like never before; the top five dealer groups in the U.S. are made up of a combined 979 dealerships, according to the 2017 WardsAuto Megadealer 100.
Despite these revolutionary shifts, numerous dealerships continue to operate in outdated ways. Many still maintain a segmented approach to customers, where sales lacks awareness of service interactions, and Store A remains oblivious to a customer’s engagement with Store B nearby.
The most successful dealerships today are those that have overhauled their operations, viewing each customer as an individual rather than a disconnected entity. Shifting operations to adopt a unified customer view is driven by three things: data hygiene, streamlined workflows, and the quality of customer connections.
I challenge dealers to envision a future where the integration of solutions is a requirement. Establishing a comprehensive and connected view of the consumer becomes extremely necessary in navigating the data-intensive landscape of the automotive industry.
In conclusion, by focusing on vehicle content transparency, mature review practices, and preparing for a data-intense future, automotive dealers can build a foundation of trust that resonates with consumers and position them for success in the evolving ecommerce landscape.
To find out more about Cox Automotive ecommerce, visit our website here: https://www.coxautoinc.com/solutions/ecommerce/
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:
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:
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.
Author: Paulo da Silva, VP of Ecommerce Operations
The idea of consumers buying their vehicle completely online used to sound like a crazy idea, right? As the automotive industry has evolved—and quite frankly online shopping in general—the desire and capability to buy vehicles completely online has taken the automotive industry by storm. Let’s take Mark. He saw an ad for his dream car, started searching online and found it at his local Honda dealer website. After he personalized his payment, he was able to start the financing process, provided required personal documents, signed a contract, and now his dream car is being delivered to his front door. All this is being done in the comfort of his home without having to engage with dealership staff via phone, email, text, or in person. During this online shopping process, however, support is still always available should the consumer decide to engage with a salesperson from the dealership.
With this shift in the car buying process, there’s an amazing opportunity for dealers who are ready to supplement and transform their business by implementing true ecommerce into their operations to stand out from the competition. As we define true ecommerce today, it provides time savings for consumers and dealers through automation capabilities, allowing them to complete a full transaction from end-to-end.
Through research at Cox Automotive, we discovered two growing segments of car shoppers:
75% of these of these two fastest-growing car shopper segments said within the next five years they would buy ENTIRELY online. The shoppers in these segments are forward-thinking and already – do 10 out of the typical 13 car-buying steps online. Preparing for these consumers who will make up most of future car shoppers is crucial to ensuring your dealership is not left behind.
In this two-part blog series, you will get a glimpse of what we think the current state of automotive ecommerce is, and what dealers should know about what the road forward could look like for consumers buying cars completely online.
Ecommerce is an emerging channel, and we are seeing consumers who want to go through the car buying process entirely online, from end-to-end, with minimal handholding from retailers. The convenience and flexibility that it offers is an attractive option for consumers.
But while industry ecommerce adoption is still in the beginning stages, dealers who want to get ahead of the curve can be strategic by investing where consumers are going to be in the mid to long-term.
Dealers who are ready to embark on this journey need to commit to the long game, so their ecommerce business is built in a way that’s sustainable. If a dealer is expecting 30% of their sales to come from full ecommerce straight out the gate, those dealers are probably not in the position to really start seriously investing. Dealers should strive to be trusted sources as this ecommerce journey continues to ramp up, but need to recognize that the economics of this are going to improve over time. Thus, understanding the importance of getting into the ecommerce space sooner, rather than later, will make the difference between the dealerships who come out on top.
There will be a growing segment of your business that’s going to be truly 100% online and this segment will continue to grow over time. However, through our learnings in 2023 the majority of consumers prefer an omnichannel approach to car buying. Omnichannel is considered that idea of back and forth during different points in the transaction from online to in-store, and often back online again. Omnichannel ecommerce can be a bridge that dealers could use to get more and more experience at guiding consumers from online to in-store at different parts of the journey.
But omnichannel is also the destination itself. Even when ecommerce is at maturity, we expect the majority of transactions to still involve the in-store experience in some way. This means that the majority of consumers are still omnichannel, and dealers still need to focus on the in-store experience and creating a seamless journey no matter where the consumer finalizes the deal.
Digital retailing allows dealers to help consumers do pieces of the car buying experience online. Through this process the consumer starts the deal online and can take the deal from a credit app submission to sometimes even a credit decision, but at that point, dealership personnel will need to engage with the consumer to usher him or her through the deal. So, while technology plays a big role, the digital retailing process is largely supported by a person in the dealership. While digital retailing is not true/full ecommerce, implementing DR tools is a step in the direction of ecommerce. which is just pulling in more and more pieces of the transaction online.
Digital retailing helps lay the groundwork without requiring major channel strategy shifts because at the end of the day, the consumer still wants to come in to complete the deal so it can mirror the existing in-store approach.
We will dive deeper into these focus areas in the next blog, but there are three areas dealers should focus on:
These three focus areas will lay the foundation dealers need to fully adopt an automotive ecommerce world. And there are so many benefits of being an early adopter in this space versus taking a backseat approach. These are things that you must start doing today to be ready for what will be an expectation down the road.
In our next blog, we will walk through the key focus areas. We will explain the value of building an extensive set of positive reviews online, creating relevant content and maximizing your data so you can start working out the process kinks while scale is relatively small. This will ultimately help you appeal to a new segment of customers and reach new markets.
In conclusion, ecommerce is a preferred pathway for a growing group of car shoppers and dealers should be thoughtful and patient with their implementation of these new tools. It’s important to remember that ecommerce shouldn’t be a siloed part of your strategy. It should be integrated into your existing channels to work cohesively, not with separate teams, brand and inventory. This shift will not happen overnight but is a long-term strategy that will pay off with diligent preparations and consistency.
To find out more about Cox Automotive eCommerce, visit our website here: https://www.coxautoinc.com/solutions/ecommerce/
Author: Shane Unrein
Listen, I get it! Staying on top of all-things advertising can be a daunting task. This is a fast-moving space that seemingly evolves daily. From Google rolling out new campaign-types each quarter, like pMax+, to Meta offering verified business checkmarks that help customers feel confident they’re dealing with a legit brand, all these changes affect your advertising in very real ways. We constantly see new advertising capabilities surface that can help dealers reach their customers in what can feel like an endless space.
However, taking your advertising to the next level does not have to be a massive, time-consuming evolution. It is worth remembering that there is no such thing as “perfection” in this sometimes-confusing space – that is an illusion – we aim for progress!
Something I’ve learned in my years as Director of Advertising at Dealer.com is that many dealers are only on the cusp of what their advertising strategy can do. Excuse me for taking advantage of a few overused clichés, but there is almost certainly some low-hanging fruit that could mean more traffic on your website and your showroom floor. I’m not talking about reinventing the wheel here or buying a whole social media platform just to change the name to a single letter for the sake of headlines.
A stale strategy is paramount to failure. But there are steps you can take to beef up your advertising strategy, small things that we can do today can have an impact.
As we have known for decades, most organisms will grow to the size of their environment, reaching out towards the limits of their domain and then slowing their expansive growth at the edges, becoming rigid – a marketing campaign is no different. Like most successful species, innovative advertising strategies need to be elastic, have room to flex, and be ready to push your boundaries with a diversified media plan.
Allocating just 8-12% of your monthly advertising budget to evolving your marketing and communications channels can reveal a lot about the topography of your space. You’ll get a better view of what works for you – and what doesn’t – and how much room you have to grow. Try something new for 45 to 60 days, assess the results, and pivot accordingly. Avenues that you wrote off a few years ago may prove fruitful, or perhaps a channel you hadn’t considered is now blowing up because of technological strides in targeting or audience capabilities.
While doing channel discovery testing (which is distinctly different than traditional A/B asset testing) it is important to note that what works for some advertisers doesn’t always work for everyone. And what worked in the past won’t always work in the future! So many external factors affect the market and buzzy trends tend to capture industry headlines. But continued and repeated channel testing can often lead to breakthroughs, even on a seasonal basis.
In today’s ecosystem, the key to staying in front of high-value car shoppers is with first-party data and audience targeting is the keystone. First-party data allow you to:
First-party data also gives you valuable insights into audience demographics, product-interest engagement metrics, lease or financing options, and service specials, just to name a few. This data also informs us on what customer behaviors are prevalent within an individual’s web activity, which gives you the ability to not only understand more about your consumer but have a clearer picture of how you can effectively reach them at the right time. These are insights that third-party cookies or purchased list data just can’t compete with.
There are three areas that immediately come to mind when thinking about how to activate the first-party data that you probably already have at your dealership, information you’ve been collecting since the first day you opened your doors.
Your CRM – This is direct access to your customers’ behavior and can help you with lead management and marketing. Your CRM can be a treasure trove of information on your customers that you can harness to get your message in front of the right people.
Your Website – Uncover the pages that shoppers have visited on your website, what specific offerings or vehicles they’ve looked at, when they signed up for email specials or price alert notifications, or any of the other ways they’ve engaged with your site.
Your Email Engagement Strategy – Your consumer emails give you insights into what your target audience engages with. You’d be shocked if I told you most dealers don’t focus on analyzing and activating these insights. You can have a clear picture of what that consumer is interested in so you can use it to tailor your marketing to them and create those critical personalized experiences.
If you’re already advertising with Cox then you have access to our huge dataset, hyper IP targeting, and cookie-less household addresses. But setting aside just an hour per month to format and upload the info you already have, which we layer onto our own data, can help give a more accurate picture of your customer’s path to purchase, and that’s something we can really use!
We live in a visual world, now more than ever.
You heard about Barbenheimer, right?
Here’s a secret; every agency uses the same providers. Google, Facebook, Instagram, CTV/OTT, etc. are essentially the same platform no matter who is at the wheel. What sets agencies apart is their data – which we talked about above – and the ability to manage creative, especially when it comes to visual mediums like CTV/OTT and Display ads, and creative collaboration is a big part of any successful equation. Fresh, professional-looking creative can make or break the success of a campaign.
One thing we’ve seen over the years is that, despite best intentions, visual assets often become an afterthought for many clients. The focus of strategy discussions invariably drifts to campaign budget allocations, search ad copy, or keywords, but these things are slowly disappearing as our world increasingly becomes more bite-sized and visually oriented. Google’s Performance Max campaign type relies heavily on custom static creative and video messaging, as does CTV/OTT, and Cox’s proprietary audience-targeted display and dynamic remarketing.
Evergreen Visual Assets – In this new world, it has become imperative that dealers have evergreen assets that act as an anchor for these newer, visually engaging channels. Crafting an overarching message about your business, that speaks to the customer not about individual products but branding of the buying process, must be the core of these campaigns. From there, we can build on the message for more seasonal messaging that is more surgical in nature; monthly specials, limited-time deals, or rare inventory, to name just a handful.
Whether you supply your own custom assets or have our Content and Creative teams build them out, it is important not to let this slip through the cracks.
Build on momentum. Finding what works for your business can be uniquely individual. We can analyze broad consumer data to get the broad strokes, but identifying what has worked for your dealership, in your market, is the key to unlocking the inertia within the data. Using the Email Engagement Strategy above as an example, we can see what types of imagery and verbiage worked well to guide our digital strategy. Did people respond to a specific deal or phrasing, did they respond to a specific product image or color, or is the market culture focused on a specific topic that is locally relevant?
Our Barbie meme above show just how much outside “momentum” can affect outcomes.
With a little coordination, the momentum you get from a well-crafted marketing blast, physical mailer, or even signage can all be reproduced in your digital campaigns, especially as the industry moves quickly towards a more-visual mindset.
At the end of the day, though, the best way to find success is to test, fail, and test again. And make no mistake, just because an idea isn’t a homerun this time doesn’t mean we can’t learn from it! Frequent testing and refinement, combined with continually evolving audience data, is the new normal for digital advertising.
Channel Intelligence uses Cox Automotive’s vast consumer dataset to provide tailored recommendations for automotive advertising to targeted audiences.
By analyzing consumer behaviors, our advanced machine-learning algorithm identifies the most effective advertising channels. This personalized approach optimizes channel performance, resulting in more leads and cost efficiencies. By reallocating advertising funds based on recommendations, businesses can maximize marketing efforts and achieve better results, reducing the need for ineffective strategies.
Interested in learning more? Have a look at our Channel Intelligence infographic:
As different as electric vehicles are from traditional internal combustion models, it’s not surprising that EV shoppers have different motivations and preferences compared to other car buyers. Cox Automotive studies show that EV shoppers spend more time researching their next vehicle and tend to be less brand loyal. It is critical that shoppers are provided relevant and compelling information about EV and hybrid offerings at the national, regional, and local level.
As different as electric vehicles are from traditional internal combustion models, it’s not surprising that EV shoppers have different motivations and preferences compared to other car buyers. Cox Automotive studies show that EV shoppers spend more time researching their next vehicle and tend to be less brand loyal. It is critical that shoppers are provided relevant and compelling information about EV and hybrid offerings at the national, regional, and local level.
As different as electric vehicles are from traditional internal combustion models, it’s not surprising that EV shoppers have different motivations and preferences compared to other car buyers. Cox Automotive studies show that EV shoppers spend more time researching their next vehicle and tend to be less brand loyal. It is critical that shoppers are provided relevant and compelling information about EV and hybrid offerings at the national, regional, and local level.
As different as electric vehicles are from traditional internal combustion models, it’s not surprising that EV shoppers have different motivations and preferences compared to other car buyers. Cox Automotive studies show that EV shoppers spend more time researching their next vehicle and tend to be less brand loyal. It is critical that shoppers are provided relevant and compelling information about EV and hybrid offerings at the national, regional, and local level.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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
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
⁵ 2021 Car Buying Journey Study
Having a digital presence as well as online capabilities is something every auto dealer needs in order to do business in today’s times. However, it’s not just a Field of Dreams scenario – if you build it, they will come. Today’s consumers have specific wants, needs and preferences in how they can purchase cars, and it’s reshaping the process for consumers, dealers and the industry alike on a whole.
In order to plan for the road forward, successful dealers know mid-year is the perfect time to take a look at both their current business and marketing strategies, as well as map out how they plan to step into and bridge into the eCommerce future that is already knocking on their front door.
To do this, it’s important to understand where consumers are, where they’re heading, and what your business should be moving toward for the road forward.
When thinking about today’s consumer, it’s important to remember there’s been an evolution in the way they research, shop, and purchase cars. Especially over the last few years. In-market auto shoppers have new and different considerations during the shopping journey, and you must have new and different ways of strategizing and running your business than you did in years past.
A successful strategy should be firmly centered on meeting consumers where they are. No longer a linear path, consumers follow the purchase path in different ways, at different times, and take different steps in a different order.
But by focusing on personalization and offering a frictionless purchase path that both aligns with their needs while simultaneously overcoming their pain points, you’ll still arrive at the end goal of making the sale and giving your customer the experience, they desire. Staying in front of them, no matter where they’re at in the process, is key.
With so many different types of shoppers that your dealership comes across online, it’s important to take a step back and do a deeper dive into who those customers are, what their pain points are, and how you can offer solutions to not only capture their attention, but also gain their trust and business.
Cox Automotive’s recent Car Buyer Journey Study identified five (5) segments of consumers, and the two (2) categories that they fall in – one shrinking in the market and one growing.
Comprised of two different segments, the growing category includes Efficient Independents and Guided Innovators. Efficient Independents comprise roughly 18% of today’s market, and they’re mostly Gen X’s (1965-1980) and Millennials (1981-1996). The largest sector is the Guided Innovator. They make up a quarter of in-market auto shoppers. They’re the youngest – being comprised mostly of Gen Z (1997-2012) and Millennials.
Shrinking Segments: It’s also important to note that the three (3) other segments found in the shrinking category are more likely to still buy in-person, however they still take some steps online during the purchase process. The Researchers, Traditionalists and Resisters prefer a process they are familiar with and that’s worked for them previously, that’s very straightforward and simple. These shoppers typically only complete 4 out of 13 shopping steps online.
So, what are the opportunities here for you? We can see how consumers want to do business online, but it’s important to remember it’s still new for them. Focus on educating them and bringing them along the purchase path with you. Your business and marketing strategy should be dialed into those growing segments. They’re online, and in our “Amazon world” they’re open to or moving toward buying high ticket items online, like cars, predominately online both now as well as in the very near future.
Not every in-market auto shopper wants the same things from their online experience, but one thing they all do want is options. Our research shows that consumers don’t want to follow a prescribed sales process. In fact, 9 of 10 consumers prefer a flexible, personalized car buying experience.
With a complete full service-connected digital retailing experience, like that provided by Cox Automotive, you can give them just that.
When it comes to promoting and marketing digital retailing and eCommerce, there are several different strategies that businesses can use.
It’s important to focus on creating a user-friendly experience for customers when it comes to digital retailing. This includes optimizing your website or mobile app for search engines, ensuring that customer service is top-notch, and using targeted advertising to reach potential customers. You also want to give shoppers the tools to explore the information they are comfortable researching or calculating on their own (inventory, trade-in values, financing terms/payments, F&I products) and make it easy for them to move and bridge the process to the dealership when they’re ready. Being able to easily pick up where they left off will increase their confidence, satisfaction and willingness to do business with you.
Businesses should focus on creating a visually appealing online store that’s easy to navigate as they shift toward the full eCommerce experience. Other strategies to consider include using social media to reach customers, running targeted ads, and optimizing content for SEO. Additionally, businesses should consider using customer relationship management (CRM) software to store customer data and track customer activity. Everything from the car, to add-ons, to financing, to delivery and so on should be connected and seamlessly lead into each other.
Overall, digital retailing and eCommerce are two very different forms of retailing. However, both can be successful if dealerships take the time to properly promote, market, and educate the consumer on them and how their business integrates them. By taking advantage of strategies such as SEO optimization, targeted advertising, and actively using the many features of CRM software, dealerships can maximize their chances of success for their business in both digital retailing and eCommerce.
Is automotive eCommerce the way of the future?
Automotive eCommerce is becoming more and more popular as a way of retailing because it’s all about convenience. With eCommerce, customers have access to a much wider selection of vehicles and access new markets than they normally would. Additionally, they can browse through different models and features at their own pace and make informed decisions before making a purchase.
What can you do now to prepare for the automotive eCommerce revolution?
In the beginning as you work step-by-step from having a few digital retailing solutions toward being fully eCommerce enabled, it’s essential to have a strong online presence. This may sound easy, but it involves more than you may think, and it’s built brick by brick, step by step.
Sure, this strategy includes setting up a high functioning easy-to-navigate website, creating a social media presence, and using SEO and PPC, but it also includes building strategies around integrating eCommerce technology into your business plan and timeline as it is adopted within your business and how you’ll market it. When you plan for the shift, it will make it easier for you to track customer preferences and trends if you make it possible for your customers to browse and buy vehicles directly from your site.
The automotive industry is on the cusp of a revolution, and working toward stair stepping your digital retailing into eCommerce is at the forefront of this change. By creating an online presence and integrating eCommerce technology into your business model, then supporting it with a thought-out marketing and consumer educational plan, you can ensure that you’re prepared for the future of the automotive industry.
Reshaping is and will continue to happen to the auto purchase process. And as times and consumer preferences change, so must your business plans and strategy. When you leverage the power of mixing, matching and modernizing your digital retailing toward full eCommerce capabilities, you’ll not only reach more customers and streamline operations, but you’ll also have the ability to unlock the potential for your business’s future success.
Want to hear all the ways to fully activate your first party data to plan for a more successful road forward? Catch the replay of a unique webinar opportunity with Automotive News hosted by Jade Terreberry and Noah Lee. They 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.
