Boycott the Third Party Sites like it's 2010!

[joe.pistell]

@Ryan Everson Your inventory is 65% new vs 35% used

I've added a few hundred VDP refreshes on your e-Tron GT

https://www.garberauto.com/inventory/new-2023-audi-e-tron-gt-prestige-awd-4dr-car-wauejbfw5p7006353/

 

[tnfly]

Will someone explain to me why used car listing sites are so popular, and, new car listing sites are not popular?

p.s. this is a classic DR thread, comments have awesome insights by some of our industry's best minds.

Do you find it to be out of proportion with the market size of each? Just looking quickly at a Google search, the number of used car transactions per year is 3-4x that of new. And, buying a new car has been pretty frustrating for shoppers for the last few years due to a lack of inventory, so the used market has been able to provide more variety.

Another thought: The used car listings are much more dynamic too, causing buyers to visit more often so they don't miss the perfect vehicle.

 

[Interested]

View attachment 5664

Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot of dealers speak out against third-party classified websites like AutoTrader, Cars.com, CarGurus, etc by stating that dealers hold all of the power with their inventory.

Is it 2010 still? Let’s be real, that ship has long since sailed. The third-party sites now hold the power with millions of in-market eyeballs and the power of scale. If you’re not on it, your competitors will be and will gain that ever-elusive competitive advantage.

Let me frame it a different way: Amazon, Expedia, Kayak, etc are all third-party marketplaces. Consumers love the convenience of these third-party marketplaces. Don’t you?

Imagine having to check 6 airline websites to find the best flight? Talk about a painful experience.

Now imagine consumers having to check hundreds of car dealer websites to find the best car. Real PITA.

It’s naive to expect consumers to use third-party marketplaces everywhere EXCEPT automotive.

Let me say it again, it’s naive to expect consumers to use third-party marketplaces everywhere EXCEPT automotive.

And if that were the case, it would further accelerate consumers’ desire for disruption in our industry. Let's not add fuel to the fire.

Let’s make car buying as frictionless as possible for shoppers. If that means partnering with a great dealer-friendly marketplace like Cars.com, then so be it. They are going to continue to innovate and help dealers stay competitive in today’s ever-changing market.

Boycotting third parties is taking a step backward in the consumer experience. Sure, it may work for a few dealers, just like the anti-marketplace strategy works for Southwest Airlines. But they are the exception to the rule.

Heck, even the disruptors like Carvana and Vroom list their inventory on all of the third-party marketplaces! Why? Because it works.

And what about the argument that I can use Google Ads to eliminate the need for third parties? Ha, as @brianpasch demonstrated in his most recent report, Google Ads is generally an incredibly expensive and ineffective way to reach in-market car shoppers. If your agency is suggesting you cancel third parties and shift your entire budget to their google ads campaigns, they do not have your best interests in mind.

I admit, I used to be part of the anti-third marketplace crowd, but I’ve come to the realization that for most dealers they are now a necessary and effective digital partner against the disruptors and OEM overreach. In the end, I’m pro customer experience.

I have worked for the top 3- 3rd party vendors listed. 3rd parties work, it's the converting mystery that's a problem. CRM's log 1 point..which isn't a good way to calculate conversion success. Even with antiquated GA reporting that most dealers don't understand.

[email protected]
Always happy to help.

 

[Dan Sayer]

I think we're missing something in the focus of this conversation. 70% of your VDPs are probably on 30% of your cars, New or Used. 3rd Parties will compound and boost results on sought after units to drive their VDP counts to show you high numbers. I used to take that bait. Oooh, look at my SRP/VDP conversions! Oooh, look at our VDPs go up! Oooh, my cost per VDP is going down! Dealers don't really need mountains of help selling the hot (Gold and Silver in vAuto lingo) cars do you? All things being equally merchandised, you'll still have New and Used that don't get clicks or low clicks and start to age. I give our CMO a lot of credit for finding ways to measure the low or no VDP units and generate campaigns around those units. Our turn is quicker because the units that sell themselves still turn in days but now the rear has been brought up as well. He is currently using FullPath as well as our agency to highlight all the no-click/low-click cars and shifting that focus has worked. Just saying. Don't overlook that part.

 

[Ryan Everson]

I think we're missing something in the focus of this conversation. 70% of your VDPs are probably on 30% of your cars, New or Used. 3rd Parties will compound and boost results on sought after units to drive their VDP counts to show you high numbers. I used to take that bait. Oooh, look at my SRP/VDP conversions! Oooh, look at our VDPs go up! Oooh, my cost per VDP is going down! Dealers don't really need mountains of help selling the hot (Gold and Silver in vAuto lingo) cars do you? All things being equally merchandised, you'll still have New and Used that don't get clicks or low clicks and start to age. I give our CMO a lot of credit for finding ways to measure the low or no VDP units and generate campaigns around those units. Our turn is quicker because the units that sell themselves still turn in days but now the rear has been brought up as well. He is currently using FullPath as well as our agency to highlight all the no-click/low-click cars and shifting that focus has worked. Just saying. Don't overlook that part.

This is especially true when it comes to dynamic catalog-based advertising that optimizes for clicks - Facebook AIA, Display, etc. Eye-candy cars can easily capture 90% of your total VDP views.

The slight difference in dynamic advertising when compared to third parties is third parties are hitting active shoppers with the exact model as they are searching for it, whereas Facebook AIA and Display are hitting passive shoppers (maybe "in-market", but not actively shopping) often with vehicles that the algorithm thinks they will click on.

I do agree it happens to third parties too but to a much lesser degree.

So maybe LotLinx was onto something after all?

 

[Todd Thompson]

I'd agree.. the genie has long since been let out of the bottle which is the dealer fault and their dealer associations. We held all the power at one time and 3rd party would be a ghostown without dealer inventory. "Build your house on someone else's real estate" was the mistake here.
For sites like FB, craigs list, kijiji I can see some use as you may not be looking for a car specifically but you may benefit from their traffic. But dedicated car sites like trader, car gurus... huge mistake on our part to ever have played along.
Anyways, at some point Google will create all the transactions within itself. show your inventory and the user will never need to visit your site. "Google Base" years ago was the proof of concept. won't be long I'm sure.

 

[tnfly]

For sites like FB, craigs list, kijiji I can see some use as you may not be looking for a car specifically but you may benefit from their traffic.

As someone who operates a regional classified ads website supporting dealer inventory feeds, I like this take.

 

[DigitalCarguy]

With digital marketing advancements there is no need for the third party sites as there are solutions that scarp those sites and create a dealer specific data lake for them to market and remarket to. Please if you are not using or not aware, contact me and I will share.

 

[Todd Thompson]

With digital marketing advancements there is no need for the third party sites as there are solutions that scarp those sites and create a dealer specific data lake for them to market and remarket to. Please if you are not using or not aware, contact me and I will share.

Think you'd be hard pressed to scrape useable data from FB, Trader, LinkedIn etc. Love to hear one solid example of that?

 

[joe.pistell]

With digital marketing advancements there is no need for the third party sites as there are solutions that scarp those sites and create a dealer specific data lake for them to market and remarket to. Please if you are not using or not aware, contact me and I will share.

You had me until you wrote "contact me and I will share".

DR is all about full transparency. Please share.