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Merchandising thoughts from a customer

Alex Snyder

President Skroob
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May 1, 2006
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My wife and I are in the process of replacing three vehicles. We hunted down 1 used one and 1 new one, and I'm still searching for my used unicorn.

New cars are easy, especially the brands that auto-generate photos because you can easily figure out what equipment something has. Unfortunately, no dealer website does a good job of getting the specs right. This isn't fully a dealership issue—this is more of a website company display issue. Dealership websites have been the best place to shop for new cars.

Used cars are a different beast. As the average vehicle on the road is now 12.6 years old (S&P just released this new milestone), and dealers are carrying more 100,000 mile vehicles, the game is a little more involved. Here are some tips for things that worked on my wife and me.

Photos, photos, photos! +no rust
There are lots of cars on places like Autotrader where they only show 6 exterior images. Gonna say, that's a pass for me. Interior shots are crucial. But what's gotten more important is the undercarriage. Some dealers are putting cars on the lift and taking a few photos to show there is no rust on a vehicle. When I see that, I get super excited! This is a place I feel like I can trust.

Interior equipment shots do not need to include every screen in the infotainment system. Take a picture of the dash, one of the full front seat with the car on, and one that highlights heated/cooled seats or any added option. A photo showing the wear on the steering wheel and drivers seat is important too. If a SUV has a third row, be sure to get that photo.

Comments
Adding some comments about the specific vehicle help to assure me. Most comments talk about how long a dealership has been in business and ratings or just puke the vehicle specs. That's a waste of my reading time. Mention how low the miles are for the year, what the previous owner was like if you know, was it a trade, how immaculate the paint is for the year of the car, minimal rust for the year, and if it is an on-brand used car for your store what makes this model so cool. Tell a story about that specific car. Compared to the garbage out there, it wouldn't take much.

Pricing
Price reductions draw attention. Even if you're reducing the price $100 every week, that's going to put a badge on an Autotrader ad that draws attention. Think of strategizing the notifications on CarGurus, CARS, and Autotrader. Price reductions = impressions.

Financing
Independent dealers are really good at letting customers know they can help attain financing. You can too! Put it in your comments. "We help our customers with financing options for all types of credit. We accept checks from your credit union and personal ones. Downpayments help, but are not always necessary." Something like that is plenty.

People are fucking stupid!
:wstupid:
What I see all over Autotrader, CARS, and CarGurus, AND more so your dealership website are signs that you think your customers know a few things about the car business and your process. They don't! If you build your website and look at your merchandising like a 19-year-old who just got his first job and is buying a car for the first time, you'll provide a better experience. The customer you're talking to in the showroom is not the customer browsing online.

I had to become a consumer to understand just how bad of a merchandiser I was as a dealer.
 
I've shared this before here on Refresh, but I'm a Unicorn hunter too. I want a manual transmission.

Did you know that Stellantis made the 4th Gen Ram 2500 with a G56 6-speed manual from 2010 - 2018? Go shop for one on any of the marketplaces and you will quickly feel the pain of a Unicorn hunter. I'll use Cars as an example:

1717084290304.png

Not a manual:
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Not a manual:
1717084732425.png

Now these are REALLY fun:

1717084853665.png

The only way to know for sure is to find a window sticker.

Alex, my fellow Unicorn Hunter, if you want to build some tech to fix this problem I will be first in line to help you sell it. ;)
 
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That problem gets worse in the used market too, right Joe? The feature becomes "more invisible" each time we get further from the expert walkaround of a new car salesperson. When I was the guy making labels 20 years ago I knew which options I could find the fastest and had NO IDEA which options would make the car sell the fastest. That was before adaptive cruise and lane-keep systems that don't have a button to push.

A Volvo dealer will likely retail that used GM with a desirable and expensive option that is either/and:

- Not being merchandised so the car appears too expensive compared to others and drops from the consumer consideration set
- Not being priced according to its ACTUAL value so the dealer gives up profit
- Not carrying the book value it should for banks LTV equations

If we are relying on consumers to memorize steering wheels to sell cars, we might just have an opportunity for improvement.
 
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You are right about listing vehicles and helping the shopper but I really think it's more about trust and building human connections and the warm fuzzy feeling they should be having while buying a new car to them.


Putting lip stick on a pig doesn't sell more cars
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Carsten, I spent decade in billion dollar vendor companies with product leaders that never had to pay the rent selling anything. They constantly fell into the same mind trap you're in.

Retailing is a science, it's highly structured, you are a dev, can you define how to manifest your warm and fuzzies?
 
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Carsten, in retail, there is a science at work. Retail buyers have a task to accomplish and Retailers have inventory to turn.

The tools that retailers have are
  1. Inventory Profile,
  2. Marketing,
  3. Merchandising,
  4. Operations.
The 4 steps are a conveyor belt. Great retailing has all 4 categories aligned.
 
Carsten, re-read Alex's post: but this time look at this thru the lens of: "Retail buyers have a task to accomplish"

Alex's topics:
--Photos, photos, photos! +no rust.
--Comments.
--Pricing.
--Financing

Alex finishes with: "...do think your customers know a few things about the car business and your process? They don't! "

Retail buyers have a task to accomplish. Period.
Here's the magic algo: Help the shopper be smarter and more productive and this will build the human connections and the warm fuzzy feeling you desire.
 


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