Grocery store, Hardware store, Gas station, it's all the same... Merchandising 101 never changes. "Make your product look different to catch your shoppers eye".
99 pictures are the norm.
Comments are the norm
Computer videos are the norm (on AT and cars)
I ask you... Where's your edge?
The shoppers eye becomes fatigued to the same ol sh!t. Put your opening shot in upside down and write OOPS on it, watch your CTR jump. For a while, our Cars.com rep was preaching how "turn your head lights on and you'll get more clicks!". Then, everyone had their head lights on and... you know what happened
PULLING THE PRICE CAN BE A LEGIT MERCHANDISING PLAN. It'll work... until it doesn't!
P.S. I keep pounding the table on the EXPLOSION of creativity that committed dealers would have if AT or Cars.com would give this concept a good hard look: http://forum.dealerrefresh.com/f21/autotrader-vs-cars-com-value-comparison-2340-5.html#post20657 It's all about making a memorable shopping experience and AT and Cars is LIFELESS. WIN - WIN.
A dealer asks whether their 14 email leads and 16 phone calls per month from Cars.com and AutoTrader is typical for a 200-car inventory, prompting discussion about lead quality from these platforms. Multiple experienced dealers agree that AutoTrader and Cars.com attract mostly early-stage shoppers in the consideration phase rather than ready-to-buy customers, explaining why direct leads are lower than expected—with one dealer noting that 60%+ of their buyers simply show up on the lot after browsing these sites rather than submitting leads. The key takeaway is that success on these platforms depends on market-based pricing, strong descriptions, quality photos, and clear calls-to-action, with Cars.com generally offering better ROI than AutoTrader for mid-market dealers.
