Alex,

Do you see a better closing ratio on the myliveoffer leads than the other leads from your website? You do not have to tell me percentages if you do not feel comfortable posting that I understand. Just want to know whether closing ratio is higher, because that is what I see as the biggest benefit.

Thanks in advance.

Oscar,

I don't typically post our business statistics, but I can tell you the most common thing I hear from the customers who use myLIVEoffer:

"It made me buy a car sooner than I was expecting to"

So, customers are playing on Checkered Flag.com, they find "Make My Deal" (myLIVEoffer) and play with it. Sometimes it gets them to pull the trigger sooner, but most of the time it keeps people coming back to us over and over again....and talking to their friends about it

Oscar,

I'll have one of my dealers quote back stats of results and engagement that way it is not me (the vendor) doing it.

If I could make a suggestion... don't think in terms of all or none (i.e. all consumers won't buy online and more than none will also).

The shopping cart is an attraction ("We have shop online") and engagement tool (Consumer has to give name, phone # + email in order to do more than look at cars).

That way you get the selling opportunity regardless... and where you will sell most of your extra cars by having this.

Buy online is just a natural extension of shop. A few will buy online, but that is not where you build your business case. Yes it is almost purely incremental to what you are getting today, but I'll let my dealers speak to that.

I thought you may find this interesting too... Here is a link to a TV news show piece where they interviewed a consumer who used the service.


Not all. Not none. Just more.

Use it to attract and get yourself more good engaged consumers.

Oscar,

In order to take this off site, please send me an email to [email protected] and I’ll let you go through a demo.

The number of steps for a consumer are from 5 - 10 depending on financing and accessories and can actually be done in approx 1 minute

Alex,

I understand that you use myliveoffer on checkeredflag.com. I know this is not a complete negotiating tool and rather an abbreviated version, but how does this perform for you? Percentage of leads from myliveoffer vs the other leads of your website? Closing ratio of myliveoffer vs other leads from your website?

I have looked at both AIDealer's solutions and mydealerbroadcast and I think these would take too much time to complete for a customer and then they still have to come in to make sure that their trade is worth as much as the shopping tool said and whether they are approved for the financing. Don't get me wrong, I think it is a great concept, but wonder whether the consumer is really ready for this. Although it gets us closer to completing the sale online, it really is an estimate on trade and financing and thus is not a true turn-key shopping cart. I do think it helps getting the customer further along the process at your dealership and thus they are more likely to purchase from you.

That brings me back to the questions I had for Alex and anybody that is using any of these tools. What is the percentage of your leads from your website that use this tool? And as important, is there a significant increase in the closing ratio of these leads?

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Amit..I have to totally disagree with (The study has some great data, but I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions based on these overall numbers.) Here’s an excise for all dealers/managers etc. Go to your local bar/restaurant/etc. and survey folks. I have conducted several over the past year all over the country and about 90% say if an online process where available they would go down that road in a minute. With that said, there is another company out here with the industry first online negotiation system. If you would like to know more about our early adopters program, drop me an email.

I looked through the original report and most of this data can be misleading, since the survey is not U.S.-centric. In fact, it covers 15 countries, including the U.S., Western Europe, and emerging markets. The "click to buy" interest was particularly strong in the latter group, e.g. Brazil (87%) and India (68%). By contrast, only 17% of US consumers in this study indicated a strong interest in click to buy.

Also, the emerging markets were added to the study in 2008 and are largely responsible for that massive jump from 20% in 2007 to 44% in 2008.

The study has some great data, but I wouldn't jump to any conclusions based on these overall numbers.

With 60% of consumers looking for any way to get a better car purchasing experience, it is no wonder they'd be more open to finding better methods. It makes total sense as to why a consumer is more willing to do the entire purchase online. As long as the car business is as "bent" (not to be read as corrupt) as it is, non-traditional purchase methods will be sought.

The number to watch over the next two years will be the online review researching - I expect that to grow substantially.

Just went to a recent presentation where one of the speakers (a CEO, no less) said that the number of customers seeking to purchase a car totally over the Internet has flat-lined. Clearly, he did not see this report. "Click to buy" is alive and well!

If you want to completely wow a customer, complete the entire transaction over the phone, and deliver the vehicle (paperwork and all) to their house. Try it some time. You will be blown away by the results!

Brian,

Great observations in your post but I do have to differ on your first paragraph. My own company offers a very user friendly ecommerce package that is having great success for our dealers.

I would have to say the most surprising number to me in the report was that just 43% of consumers saw inability to test drive vehicle as a barrier to purchasing online.

Only 43%!

That leaves a lot of consumers out there that don't seem to have that need.

Max RPM - We've found a surprising number of consumers willing to buy online. If you'd asked me less than a year ago I'd have said 10%.

Our recent presidential election shows us the power of the internet as Jeff discussed in a recent post.

These figures are pretty well inline with everything else we have seen. The only real surprising number was the 44% that would purchase a vehicle completely over the internet. I would have thought that number to be closer to 25%

Jeff, since Ai-Dealer is the only company currently offering the complete "Buy-Direct" online, transactional capability considered by CapGemini, I'll say up front that I am posting here at your request, lest I otherwise step outside of the blog rules.

Since we have actual experience with what consumers say vs. what they do, I'll focus on that for this post along with some misconceptions about Buy Direct.

Perhaps the thinking behind the CapGemini report is behind this month's write up / vendor profile in Digital Dealer magazine?


Anyway, here is the experience on the ground with Buy Direct. Stop thinking about Buy. Buy is just a natural extension of Shop.

That is why we call our product a Shopping Cart, not a Buying Cart.

Our definition of "shopping" for a car online includes 100% self-serve Desking and F+I - price, credit, interest rates, incentives, trade equity, extended warranties, protections, accessories, tax, title, fees, and most importantly, accurate monthly payments.

So you provide all of that by hooking the function up to your website, but in order to maximize your # of selling opportunities, the shopping cart is structured to allow consumers to "browse" the cars anonymously, but in order to "shop" they have to give you their name, phone number and email address.

The great majority of sales that arise via the shopping cart occur from your follow up of the people who start out in the cart, but who come in. Some buy online, but not many. Certainly not 44%... but that is okay.

Our dealers achieving the best results with this attribute ~5% of their sales to the shopping cart. With good process, here is what they get:

1) A boost in the # of leads that their website produces... usually 1-2 times, but it depends on site design and competition from other "lead" calls to action
2) 60-70% response rates (i.e. the shopping cart consumers respond very, very well to your follow up activities). Partly because they are lower in the funnel, partly because they are engaged with your process even though it was all online.
3) 20-30% close ratios... between Buy Directs and follow up of the unsold shopping carts of all those who created an account, this many close.

Then the more interesting question becomes (and this is an area we are just beginning to work with Ad Agencies on), how do you use this as part of a broader marketing and digital marketing strategy?

How do you spread the word that you have "shop and buy online" as a competitive differentiator?

Anyway, thanks for the invitation to post. Hopefully follow up posts don't center on how car dealers want people to buy (i.e. in the showroom)... but how to both give consumers what they want (shop) while still giving the dealers what they need (buy - whether online or in the showroom with highly engaged consumers).

Lol, there are several Ad sites that are giving them a run for their money. Autotrader been sending attorneys after people so they can monopolize. So, if you have autotrader in your name you are F'ed. They think they created other peoples domains names and paid for it. There is a site that is awesome looking in design and their ranking isn't bad for the time they been on the net called Bogartautotrader.com. They got attacked - funny thing is it seem like they waited to see if they were goin gto do good then hit them from a repliable source of mine. Internet monopoly I mean you are goin gup against COX, corporate gangbangers it seem. If you are a small guy they can't handle competition what do they do - gangbang in suits and ties instead of man up and give people that made them rich help like all those dealerships that are going down Im sure they made COX and AutoTrader.com rich so when they going to help the car industry like lowering their fucking feed prices. I know BogartsAutoTrader.com was doing this and people were happy. Spread the word, in my opinion they went after them BogartsAutoTrader.com because they are honest and is trying to help the car industry instead of rob them when the economy is down. Our country needs more honest businesses like BOGARTSAUTOTRADER.com. I won't doubt if Autotrader start harrassing them to give up their domain name. Thats what wussies do in my book must know you suck when you got to worry about the little guy, lmao sad. Money gangbangers once the corporate peanut butter kicks in they will get you stuck like a ghetto with no option "AUTOTRADER".

Super Sales- that's interesting because I've heard that same thing recently. A lot of their recent behavior can be explained by them dressing up AutoTrader.com for sale. I'm curious if anyone else has heard this, seen any signs, or has any additional info?

The likely suitors would be Google, Microsoft, or somebody with VERY deep pockets. Imagine what Google could do to the market if they owned ATC.

So after reading all of this, there is another rumor that AutoTrader is back on the market. Is there any truth to this rumor? Is Cox once again trying to unload?

The ATC subject is always interesting to say the least. As a former employee of ATC and ATP over an 8 year period I am amazed at the loyalty from dealers. Does ATC work? Off course. Is it worth the investment? That is up to the dealer and the ROI they are expecting. Does ATC innovate? Without a doubt. But how does that innovation help the dealer? Is real or perceived? Again, the answer is subjective. In the beginning ATC was to be a targeted advertising venue. They thought the buying process would be changed and the need for dealers per se would change dramatically. Well that didn't happen. Now they are introducing products such as the ALPHA programs for thousand more. How does a dealer resolve the ROI question? Some have because of basic marketing and advertising models. We spend the money we HAVE to be getting our moneies worth. I question that logic and do openly as a competitor of ATC on the streets. While they serve a need, does the invention of new more expensive prducts really increase ROI or just justify them building brand recognition for a future sale? There are many opportunities out there for dealers, but the "newspaper syndrome" has taken hold, "I need to be there and in a big way since my competition is there". Mr.Perry and crew have done a great job, building their brand on the dealers back.

veh...

ATC has been piloting different versions live for the past several months. You will be seeing the new version shortly.

Have you looked at the Vehix website lately? It is a much nicer site than Autotrader. It looks like the code was written in the last decade, not 1999 like ATC. Very nice filtering options, although sadly they still don't enforce consistency in the listings (if you don't put trans type in a listing, a shopper can't filter for it).

AT website is a PITA to navigate and looking for specific vehicle characteristics is useless. They don't seem to be putting any money into IT and development; could it be they are trying to cut expenses to make it attractive to a buyer?

I have been in the car business 45 years and sold a trillion dollars in cars.ATC is only as good as the ROI it produces. It should at minimum be double in terms of the spend.

(I am, 20yrs car guy, 10 on my own,$34million sals in 2008) ATC is expensive, but so is a Duramax Diesel, ATC gets the job done.===Real issues==Dealers aren't using the tools they have to be effective. I've seen dealers with partnership packages that still have dealer specialties to come take 9 pics....they pay for 27 but only use the 9...they have the best placement on ATC and have lame descriptions, I'm sure that's a good indicator on how they handle the customer when they call in.........

They billboard at Times Square is expensive....but you never see it blank...or with some corn-ball hokie ad.....or half used.....

Dealers right now are targeting ATC as a big ticket expense to cut....they should train staff instead....that's what I do now....there is a great need for it...

Former and Ex-ATC, it definitely all falls in line with what's been going on lately. Just about everything you hear in rumor these days is based in fact. A former co-worker and I started hearing bits, pieces, and rumors, and we predicted, EXACTLY how the demise of Cox Auto Trader/Auto Mart was going to go down, and we got it down EXACTLY, even to the utilizing of the print reps to convert revenue before they ditch them, which, mark my words, is the plan. Why do you think they are only giving them a $25,000 base as opposed to the $40,000-$45,000 starting base all other advertising consultants make. They are looking for a low-cost solution to converting dollars. Sure, they are paying them some heavy commissions up front (200% on converted print revenue), but in the long run, they overall value of the upsell is worth more.
It's all way too transparent.

Well said Former ATC Employee. Anyone still with them in management for over 4 or 5 years with any LTIP "shares" better put on armor to stop the knife in the back. I have heard of a couple folks I've known who this has happened to in the past year also, so it's totally believable. I've also spoken to a couple magazine reps who are pretty much expecting to be let go in about three months, once their relationships are milked over to ATC with new business contracts.

The fact that ATC was pulled off the market only is indicative that the company needs to enhance their curb appeal before Cox can reap the true value of the ATC. Right now ATC is saddled with a dinosaur from the past, Autotrader magazine. The have recently closed the magazine and tried to integrate some employees into ATC. The are currently working in teams comprised of an ATC rep, and a magazine rep to convert as much magazine business as possible to the ATC side of the house. Once this is done, it makes the purchase of ATC much more streamlined.

One hurdle that Cox has to look very closely at is how ATC employees, predominantly managers were compensated. A part of the compensation plan are LTIP’s (Long Term Income Plan) these are tied to the overall value of the company, which as of January 08 was $4.3 billon as confirmed by independent auditors. Currently Cox owes million’s of dollars to managers. To off set this possible back breaking pay out Cox and ATC have very quietly begun to rid themselves of long terms managers for what ever cause they can find. If the manager is terminated for cause, then Cox does not have to pay the LTIP‘s. Some people have questioned this practice of terminating proven successful managers, as it is not in the best interest of the company.

However the fact remains, Cox saves millions, and if the company is sold it is no longer Cox’s problem. The fact that Cox as sold almost all of its newspaper business ( save for 4) the infusion of cash that the sale of ATC would bring would be quite welcome. This is a big departure from the overall corporate philosophy that has served the Cox family well over the years. Cox valued employees and fostered a feeling of family in the various corporate entities. That has changed over the last few years as the presidents of the individual divisions have been given carte blanch to do what is necessary . Sandy Swartz the author of the (fire experienced manager plan) and president of Cox Autotrader announced generous severance packages for long time trader magazine employees they received one ( 1) week. The is not the way the Cox family as done business in the past. The trend does not bode will for current and future Cox employees, with hatched men like Swartz around. This once proud Company that was founded by James M. Cox over a hundred years ago lists as one of its company values :

Our employees are our most important resource. We encourage entrepreneurship and initiative. We recognize and reward achievement.

Well if employees are like a natural resource’s and conservation of those resources means thinking “Green” then the future of Cox is decidedly not green nor environmentally friendly.

I have been selling internet advertising to dealers for the past year. The GM's number one complanit was Auto Trader and Auto Trader.com. They knew that the name was out there for Auto Trader and everyone knew them this is why the company that owns Auto Trader started buying up the companies that sell the picture taking and window lables. So they can keep charging the dealers outrages prices.
Good luck Auto Trader the dealers are catching on now you might be hurting one day.