What Are Customers Looking for on Dealer Web Sites?

What Are Customers Looking for on Dealer Web Sites?

Who is shopping on automobile dealers’ Web sites these days? What information are shoppers looking for, and how do shopers evaluate their experiences with dealer Web sites?

This is what Friedman-Swift Associates, in conjunction with NADA and The Cobalt Group, asked in a survey of visitors to NADA’s www.DriversSeat.com and Cobalt Group’s www.DealerNet.com. Here’s what they found:

-32 percent of buyers plan to purchase a vehicle within the next month; 17 percent plan to buy in one to two months, 21 percent in three to six months.

-48 percent of shoppers are looking at both new and used vehicles, while 30 percent are shopping for a new vehicle only.

-New-car shoppers are most interested in researching vehicle options on a dealer’s Web site. Important to both new-and used-car shoppers: MSRP and dealer invoice price comparisons, pictures of cars in inventory and NADA Used Car Guide/Kelly Blue Book price comparisons.

-70 percent of shoppers are somewhat satisfied with the dealership Web sites they visited, but only 24 percent were very satisfied. Overall apperarance ranked high (70 percent excellent or good rating); visual impact and ease of navigation ranked lower.

-Only 14 percent of consumers are willing to spend more than five minutes searching for price-related information on a dealers’ Web site; 39 percent are willing to spend only a minute or less, with similar numbers for inventory searches.

Complete results of the Friedman-Swift survey, “What Shoppers Want from Dealer Web Sites: A look at New and Used Vehicle Shoppers,” are available on www.nada.org; click on Member Services, then Technology.