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:
Gaining insights into auto industry best practices is crucial. Understanding the car buyer’s journey is an essential step for automotive marketing professionals looking to drive engagement and boost sales. The 2023 Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey study has provided a wealth of information that can significantly enhance your digital marketing strategy. Here, we distill the top five insights and actionable steps you can take to elevate your efforts.
1. Vehicle Ownership is Not Going Anywhere
One of the most eye-opening findings from the study is that vehicle ownership remains a priority for most consumers. An impressive 91% of consumers intend to use their own vehicle as their primary mode of transportation in the future, a significant increase from 77% in 2018. Additionally, fewer consumers believe ownership is unnecessary, with this belief dropping from 43% in 2018 to 35% in 2023.
Actionable Steps:
Highlight the benefits of vehicle ownership in your marketing campaigns. Emphasize the control, convenience, and safety personal transportation provides.
Create content that reassures potential buyers about the value of owning a vehicle, especially in a post-pandemic world where safety and personal space have become paramount.
2. Satisfaction with the Shopping Journey Increased
Consumers are increasingly satisfied with their car-buying journey, both for new and used vehicles. Satisfaction for new car buyers has risen to 73%, up from 70% in 2022. Similarly, satisfaction for used car buyers has improved to 68%, up from 58% in 2022.
Three key factors contributed to this rise: better vehicle selection, with only 39% feeling there was limited inventory in 2023 compared to 56% in 2022; better prices, as although prices remain high, dissatisfaction decreased slightly from 54% in 2022 to 49% in 2023; and increased dealer outreach, with more consumers reporting being contacted by dealers with appealing incentives or deals (17%, up from 14% in 2022).
Actionable Steps:
Ensure your inventory is well-stocked and diverse to meet various customer needs.
Train your sales team to reach out proactively with personalized deals and incentives.
Enhance your digital presence by showcasing your inventory online with detailed descriptions and competitive pricing.
3. Improved Online Efficiency
Shoppers are spending less time overall on the car-buying process. The time spent shopping decreased by 1 hour and 8 minutes, from 14:39 in 2022 to 13:31 in 2023. This shorter window means you must be more strategic and targeted in your interactions.
Actionable Steps:
Optimize your website for quick, efficient browsing. Ensure it’s mobile-friendly, fast-loading, and easy to navigate.
Use personalized marketing to keep shoppers engaged throughout their journey. Leverage data to deliver relevant content and offers at each touchpoint.
Utilize third-party sites: Consumers trust these sites for unbiased information. Make sure your listings and reviews on these platforms are up-to-date and positive.
4. The Retailing Experience was Top Notch
Satisfaction with the overall shopping journey surged in 2023, with overall satisfaction jumping from 61% to 69%. Satisfaction with dealerships increased by 10%, and 21% rated their experience as better than their last purchase. Several factors contributed to this improvement, including heightened vehicle availability, the return of incentives, and a shift toward a more digital process.
Actionable Steps:
Encourage enhanced lead submissions: The more detailed the information you gather from potential buyers, the better you can personalize their experience.
Invest in digital retailing tools: Provide a seamless experience between your online platform and in-person dealership interactions.
Promote your inventory effectively through digital channels, ensuring that high-demand vehicles and deals are prominently featured.
5. Digital Retailing Continues to be Highly Beneficial
Consumers are increasingly leaning towards an omnichannel experience, seamlessly blending online and in-person steps to create a more cohesive and integrated shopping journey. This approach allows for greater convenience, flexibility, and personalization, catering to the diverse needs and preferences of modern consumers.
Actionable Steps:
Offer multiple buying pathways: Allow consumers to choose how they want to interact—whether online, in-person, or a mix of both.
Ensure seamless transitions: Make sure the deal carries forward smoothly, regardless of whether the customer starts their journey online or in-person.
Focus on customer satisfaction: Modern dealers who prioritize a seamless, omnichannel experience see significant payoffs in consumer satisfaction and profitability.
Ready to Take Your Digital Marketing to the Next Level?
The insights from the 2023 Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey study provide a roadmap for automotive marketing professionals to enhance their strategies. By implementing these top five takeaways, you can ensure your digital marketing efforts are more effective, engaging, and ultimately, profitable.
For a deeper dive into these insights, download our top five takeaways and start transforming your digital marketing strategy today.
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.
The playbook spells out how you can maximize the value of your Dealer.com website, shows you how to maintain peak performance with actionable steps, and guides you to expand your knowledge with links to valuable resources.
We’ve gathered the information every professional needs to know about their website, along with useful tips to help you follow the latest standards for things like designing a high-performing landing page, maintaining healthy site speed, and creating a better customer experience.
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 automotive industry is constantly evolving. To keep up with the changing demands of the industry, the annual Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey (CBJ) allows dealers and OEMs to stay informed about the state of car buyer satisfaction with the overall vehicle shopping and buying experience.
The 14th annual Car Buyer Journey study was released earlier this year, based on nearly 3,000 respondents who purchased or leased vehicles in the previous year. It sheds light on two significant points: 1.) The industry is NORMALIZING, and 2.) Dealers and third-party aggregators are RESILIENT.
While we all might define ‘normal’ differently, particularly because of inflation, record profits, inventory fluctuations, and rapid digitization, we may finally be transitioning from those not so ideal times into a more stable place. The CBJ findings mark a turning point.
Let’s explore the top 5 takeaways from the study and how they can contribute to enhancing your digital marketing strategy.
#1: Vehicle Ownership is Not Going Anywhere
91% of consumers told us they intend to use their own vehicle as their primary mode of transportation in the future, up significantly from 2018 (77%). With ride sharing and vehicle subscription trending in the last 5-8 years, there were predictions that consumers were moving away from personal ownership. However, we’re seeing the opposite.
With personal transportation needs rising due to personal safety concerns since the pandemic, we see personal vehicle ownership is here to stay.
Fewer consumers agree that ownership is NOT necessary (down from 43% in 2018 to 35%). And, nearly all consumers tell us they intend to leverage their own vehicle as their primary mode of transportation in the future (91% vs. just 9% who plan to use an alternative).
WHAT TO DO: It’s more important than ever to enhance the customer experience – with personal vehicle usage up and the desire to own more than one car. In fact, there was a 36% increase in the number of buyers motivated to own more than one car in their household from 2022 to 2023. Ask yourself:
What re-targeting campaigns are in place to retain your existing customers?
What advertising strategy do you have in place to attract new customers?
Leverage your CRM and activate your first-party data. Reach out to consumers in their preferred method and follow up with past customers to ensure they know how much you appreciate their business.
#2: Satisfaction with the Shopping Journey Increased
Overall satisfaction with the shopping experience is higher for both new and used car buyers: 73% for new (70% in 2022), and 68% for used (58% in 2022). The increase was influenced by three factors:
Better vehicle selection. Fewer consumers felt that there was limited inventory to choose from—39% in 2023 compared to 56% in 2022.
Better prices. 49% of consumers said prices were higher than expected in 2023 compared to 54% in 2022. However, these numbers are still significantly higher than they were in 2021. This indicates that affordability is still a pain point and even more so among the price-sensitive used buyers.
More dealer outreach with good deals. There’s been a significant increase in the number of consumers who mentioned that a dealer contacted them with some appealing incentives or some type of deal – 17% compared to 14% in 2022 and 12% in 2021.
WHAT TO DO: It’s no secret that as inventory rebounded, so did shopper satisfaction with the overall purchase journey – now, with incentives rolling back in, ensure you are getting the right message in front of the right customer at the right time and in the right way.
This starts with taking an in-depth look at your digital marketing strategy and focusing on your:
Website: Ensure your website showcases relevant information your shoppers want to see. You have a short window to grab their attention, so your website should be personalized, easy-to-navigate, and data-driven.
Advertising: Ensure you are utilizing the correct channels to target your in-market shoppers and serve them the information they want to see. Dealer.com’s Machine Learning and Real-time Bidding platform can analyze prior ad performance, vehicle detail page engagement, and browsing trends in real-time to ensure your ads are served to the most relevant buyers in your market.
#3: Improved Online Efficiency
Shoppers spent 1 hour and 8 minutes less when shopping in 2023 (13:31) than 2022 (14:39) as the experience became more efficient. This time spent means you have a shorter window to influence shoppers during their journey, so you must be more strategic and targeted. Delivering personalized content during the entire purchase process to keep shoppers engaged is crucial.
Third-party sites have been resilient throughout the pandemic and chip shortage – consumers find them to be trustworthy, reliable, and unbiased. We found in our data that buyers are 57% more likely to visit third-party sites exclusively without having to visit the OEM sites especially among used buyers.
WHAT TO DO: Take the data and insights you receive from third-party sites such as Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book™ and ACTIVATE them. These insights can be used to personalize messaging to stand out as the one to do business with because you know the shoppers wants and needs and can provide them with the experience they’re seeking.
#4: The Retailing Experience was Top Notch
Overall satisfaction with the shopping journey surged in 2023 from 61% to 69%. With inventory levels returning to pre-pandemic levels, your buyers are back heavily shopping your vehicle inventory. Contributing factors include heightened vehicle availability, the return of incentives, and a continued shift toward a more digital process.
Encouraging shoppers to submit an enhanced lead yields higher satisfaction than a basic lead. In fact, satisfaction with the dealership was 10% higher AND 21% more rated their experience as better than their last purchase in 2023. The more you know about your shoppers, the more you can provide a personalized experience, and in turn, shoppers will be more satisfied with their interactions.
WHAT TO DO: Elevate customer satisfaction to new levels by promoting enhanced lead submissions from your shoppers. The more shopper information you have means you can foster a more personalized experience that ultimately results in higher satisfaction throughout the buying journey.
#5: Digital Retailing Continues to be Highly Beneficial
Buyers are moving toward an omnichannel experience—a mix of both in-person and online steps. The key is to have different ways to buy based on the shopper’s 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 focus of their strategy are seeing some pretty big payoffs in both consumer satisfaction and driving profits.
WHAT TO DO: There’s ongoing opportunity for improvement in dealmaking processes, particularly with the ongoing shift towards digital retailing. 81% of shoppers surveyed said digital retailing improved the overall buying experience. Consider mapping out the necessary steps for your dealership to embrace a more digital future, while addressing current gaps such as financing. This includes integrating digital retailing solutions seamlessly onto your website and providing comprehensive content to educate customers on utilizing the available tools effectively.
Adapting to consumer behavior, regardless of economic challenges or industry shifts, is key to staying ahead. By aligning your dealership and digital marketing approach with the desires, needs, and preferences of today’s shoppers, you can provide a customer experience that not only attracts their attention but also leads to successful sales.
Utilize these insights to elevate your digital marketing efforts and access our latest infographic for a bite-sized overview of the top five takeaways.
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
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.
