ONLY 7% of buyers report purchasing entirely online - Digital Retailing FAILED?

[Jeff Kershner]

7% of buyers report purchasing entirely online
7% of buyers report purchasing entirely online
7% of buyers report purchasing entirely online
7% of buyers report purchasing entirely online
7% of buyers report purchasing entirely online

According to the latest Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey Study: Report Summary 2025
ONLY 7% of buyers report purchasing entirely online.

ALL that damn work during the Covid years, manufacturers shoving online buying services down our throats and making it MANDATORY to have on our dealer websites. Company after company scrambling to capitalize. Acquisitions to have a solution to for dealers.

"Digital Retailing" wasn't just the new buzzword in the industry, TOTAL - from beginning to end online vehicle purchasing was going to revolutionize how dealers sold vehicles and how consumers were going to save time buying their next vehicle from a dealership.

BUT DID IT?

Dealers scrambled to offer a solution to this new wave of online BUYERS. BUT in many cases it proved to be a nuisance, became a commodity of the tech bundle and another standard service the OEMs forced upon us.

Most of us gave it an honest effort to make it work but seems as if MOST of us in the business and on the dealer side already KNEW how it was going to end.

Here we are, 5 years later and only 7% of buyers report purchasing a vehicle entirely online.

What happened - Are you surprised?

 

[Steve Stauning]

Yikes! If you'd asked me 5 years ago (when I think the reported number was 9%), I would've guessed we'd be at 20% by the end of 2025 (given how much money and effort was thrown at these pursuits). But, as I wrote in 2017 (quoting Dr. Alan Grant from Jurassic Park) “T-Rex doesn’t want to be fed. He wants to hunt.” Selling Cars Online or Offline: Not Everyone Wants to Buy Their Next Car Online - Ask The Manager

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Yikes! If you'd asked me 5 years ago (when I think the reported number was 9%), I would've guessed we'd be at 20% by the end of 2025 (given how much money and effort was thrown at these pursuits). But, as I wrote in 2017 (quoting Dr. Alan Grant from Jurassic Park) “T-Rex doesn’t want to be fed. He wants to hunt.” Selling Cars Online or Offline: Not Everyone Wants to Buy Their Next Car Online - Ask The Manager

I would go back and forth. There were times I thought we may hit close to 15% come 2025-26 due to the level of importance the manufacturers were placing on it and as you said..

given how much money and effort was thrown at these pursuits

But then again it's not like there was any Tier 1 messaging to the consumer to help promote it.

Anyone recall Manufacturer ads promoting "Buy Online are your Local Honda dealership?" I sure don't.

 

[BillVaughnKMC]

I still believe that there are simply too many variables to account for in the average car deal for people to be able to get the information and transparency that they want to complete a purchase fully online. I also believe firmly that the way OEMs structure trim levels, packages, accessories, and various options creates a massive obstacle for customers to truly know enough to be confident that they would be buying the right car for them without talking to anyone. On top of that, when AI gets involved, they still SHOULDN'T be confident they are getting accurate info. For instance, some asked in the chat the other day if we had any dealer add-ons. The AI thought they were asking about accessories and said basically, "Sure we've got lots of them!"

 

[Jeff Kershner]

The AI thought they were asking about accessories and said basically, "Sure we've got lots of them!"

Ha!! Ai gave it an honest effort.

I still believe that there are simply too many variables to account for in the average car deal for people to be able to get the information and transparency that they want to complete a purchase fully online. I also believe firmly that the way OEMs structure trim levels, packages, accessories, and various options creates a massive obstacle for customers to truly know enough to be confident that they would be buying the right car for them without talking to anyone.

I'm sure there's a lot of truth to that. It would be interesting to see a break down of that 7% by manufacturer/Make to see if there's any correlation, knowing some manufactures offer way more options and packages over others. I can't imagine too many Domestics or Trucks in that 7%. But what about Honda or Volvo compared to GMC or Mercedes-Benz? Heck, some of the manufacturers struggle with their OWN online Build Your Vehicle tools.