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#LingoBAM!

#TryToScaleThatBitch

Epic post Ling!  Jeff, this should be a front page blog post!



Ling,

Car shopping is the US matches your "hedonic decline" observation, but with a twist.   Over 80% of US car shoppers are shopping online for 3 weeks or more (>50% shop 3 months or more) Almost all car shoppers use the internet, not to make the final descision, but to narrow their consideration set and prep them for the dealer visit.  So,  US car shoppers enjoy the journey and anticipation, but they wait till the final hour to visit the dealer(s),  pick a car & commit.


 In the final hour the US car shopper uses the dealership as an extension of their internet shopping.  When they arrive, they're focused on their car buying goals, yet are open to other discoveries that the were lost in the noise of the internet.  This workflow makes the dealer AND the product the final authority in the US car shoppers visit.


Summary: The dealer visit is the last leg in the internet shopping journey. The dealer has to have it's operations running in top form to have the highest closing ratio (right inventory, great building, great people).