Process for displaying Inventory?

[Alex Snyder]

I received this email from a very perceptive vendor:

I was wondering if you have ever done an article outlining the importance of good vehicle data on your website?  I have been building up my wish list for a new truck and consistently find a severe lack of option info on sites.  I know there is only so much info that can be had from VIN decoding, and that it becomes a manual chore to get really stellar info populated.  I just have to think that if you are spending all sorts of time adding content to other parts of your site to gain SEO value and sell your dealership, etc...  that spending the time to add options and details about the vehicle would also be beneficial.  This issue is probably more prevalent with trucks...I was curious to get your thoughts on it.

I figured this would be a good one for all of us to answer and discuss. Getting inventory to properly display is a very tough process; not only because of technology (mainly DMS difficulties), but also due to internal processes. This is all especially tedious when you are dealing with multiple stores.

How do you deal with things?

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

Just to kick things off...

Checkered Flag houses 11 new car franchises and a used car super store (Drivers World) under 7 rooftops with a single DMS box (most dealers have separate boxes). To say things are a bit on the complicated side for us is an under statement. I don't even want to think about the complications a group like AutoNation or MileOne have. I do wish I knew what CarMax was doing though.

We have to separate our DMS boxes based on a Dealership ID number (company number) and a regimented stock numbering system to appease outside vendors. We are an ADP DMS company and have found that certain option codes do not parse into other vendors. HomeNet and Dealer.com have had to write special codes in order to match-up with the things ADP uses, and we have to update these things with every new model year. This is especially the case for color codes on Honda's. HomeNet uses a 2 digit code while ADP uses a 3 digit code. And god forbid a manufacturer comes out with a brand new model - chaos!

Now that I've set the stage for just a few of our own difficulties, let's look at internal process:

New Cars
Manufacturer drops MSO number into their own system >> admin updates ADP with an "in transit" status code >> car arrives at dealership >> lot attendant stocks vehicle in and "for retail" status code is updated in ADP >> vehicle PDI'd and placed on the lot >> VIN decode and options uploaded to HomeNet >> eMarketing Coordinator checks to make sure things decoded correctly in HomeNet >> inventory is sent to various aggregators on the Internet

Used Cars - depends where sourced, but let's look at a trade-in

Salesperson enters trade info into iMagicLab CRM >> Used Car Manager re-enters info into vAuto for appraisal >> deal is done and trade is re-entered into ADP >> vehicle goes through reconditioning and marked as "for retail" in ADP then on the lot >> eMarketing Coordinator takes photos and notes any "extra" items/options the vehicle has >> eMarketing Coordinator updates HomeNet with any "extras" and uploads images >> eMarketing Coordinator prints window stickers and places them on the vehicles >> Used Car Manager prices the vehicle in vAuto >> vAuto updates pricing in HomeNet >> HomeNet sends to the various aggregators on the Internet

------WOW------

What a PITA! Can you imagine how many times things get missed, the ball gets dropped, or something goes awry?

This is what we've come-up with and it seems to work the best. It is far from perfect. I can say that we are working on a more efficient system that will be rolling out in February, but it won't be worth commenting on until we've got a few months under our belt with it.

VENDORS: please do not call or email me with ways to make our process cheaper/faster. It isn't that I don't want to hear about it, I just get too many calls and emails with those kinds of pitches already. We plan to stick things out with our current vendors. Please add a helpful comment to this discussion instead that will benefit the industry - not just Checkered Flag.

 

[Wendell Dossett]

I find it interesting that most sites have no vehicle options input by the dealership at all. Even people who are featured as leaders of our industry, check out there sites for info or selling copy. Odd. I would think this is what sells the interest, call, email, vehicle. Interesting features of that particular vehicle should be sold. People don't go down through the generated options listing, at least the ones I have asked about. Some seem to think that it could be wrong, just a computer generated listing. Putting a real piece of selling copy in there generates interest(marketing) and thats what real human beings want. They want to be sold on whats on the front of the cereal box, not on whats on the side in small print.

I guess it would boil down to having a professional who understood what makes this vehicle stand out and then actually putting it into print. Sounds like work! Well, it can all start when the car is appraised - What the previous owner was saying, what the appraiser said, what came out of clean up and service. Pull a Carfax. Then you would look at it and put all these interesting pieces of info together and Kapoweee, a Story-Features- Why buy me!- Why buy from me!

What the emailer was asking is why he cant get info thats relevant and informative to his search. On properly displaying it, sounds like some may be so big you cant check and adjust, sounds like work.

 

[Dan (blog)]

This is an important topic, and reading Alex's account of what they go through brings into perspective the effort required to provide good information to potential customers.

Here's my 2 cents as someone both in search marketing, and who recently purchased a new car.

Often car shoppers do not want to pick up the phone or visit a dealership, they want to browse what is available at various dealers online and go from there. When I was shopping I had a few models in mind, but also had a number of options I deemed absolutely necessary in any vehicle I would purchase. I did find plenty of instances where I just didn't know if a particular vehicle included what I required.

May a dealer have missed out on a lead because of that? Absolutely.

So, what to do given the enormous amount of work that can go into vehicle listings...

An initial thought is to determine how much a lead is truly worth (how good are you at closing a deal?), how much time would be required to include all options on every vehicle, and how much would it cost to include all that data (fees, man-hours, etc.)? Does it add up? Is it worth it?

One way to reduce the amount of information to include on any given vehicle is to create pages which do include all that data, and track search traffic related to them. If after an appropriate amount of time you discover no search referrals for a particular feature/option then leave it out on the details page. Instead, focus on the ones that are bringing you visitors.

That information can also be had through keyword research, and you can even drill-down to your state for this, but nothing is better than data right from your analytics (there may not be enough data to register with Google at a local level: Google Trends).

Also try using Google's search-based keyword tool. Input a URL for the manufacturer's options' page for a specific model, type in some options, and see what's given as a result (http://www.google.com/sktool/#keywo..., sirius, moonroof, navigation, trailer brake)

You can also utilize data from your PPC program.

It will likely still be a lot of work to input the options people are looking for. So, I would certainly recommend including all available options for every model somewhere on your website (like a page for each model) to try and capture those customers who, like myself, need (err...want), and are willing to pay for, certain options. This can help capture them, but may not translate to a lead since the page is not an available vehicle.

Dan

 

[Dan Morgan]

I work at a Toyota dealer. We have the main Toyota/Scion store plus 2 off property used car lots that sell all non-Toyota's usually, except for high mileage stuff. Our ReyRey DMS system is good for having location codes for the different lots. We have gotten pretty good at the system of when the car is traded in, where the status is then changed to in service. As it's going through service it still shows on the site(s) but just doesn't have pictures. Once it is through recon then pics are taken and usually the day after I upload them to the ReyRey FTP that then goes to the vehicle and then out to the site and our 3rd parties.

I particularly like how Reynolds works with the model and trim of the car which then shows up verbatim on the website. We noticed very quickly when we got the new site that we could do that and it really helped us market the vehicles on the site better, showing models like "limited" "le" "xle" and also showing some options "LA" "Bluetooth" "Nav".

I then set it up with our 3rd parties to make sure they showed certain information in the comment area of each vehicle which in turn helps customers know what they are looking at, and it's less time for me having to go into individual vehicles to update their options.

Of course we could always have more comments but at least we have some, rather than none at all.

 

[andwrig]

It would be great if there was a web based resource, preferably something that integrates with our DMS, that we could access to see the original equipment packages and options on a car we trade or buy at the auction (Maybe a PDF of the window sticker). Does anyone know of something like this? As we all know, the VIN will only decode so much information. Look at the number of packages and options on Ford trucks or BMW's. There are literally thousands of combinations. I am a big fan of as much detail in a listing as possible. I am currently revamping and enhancing my stocking in process in an effort to display more accurate information for the customer. This a great discussion topic. So much time can fall by the wayside if the process is not streamlined. Great post Alex.

 

[JIM]

Great topic.On used vehicles I vin de code thru the DMS but i have found adding text ie Manufacturer reviews etc from the initial source feed (for me DLR specialties) will up load dms and satillite sites. You may have problems with interface between different programs,or the amount of space provided to download information. Usually you can work that out. It has been well worth the effort.

 

[Dan Morgan]

I wish I knew as well, but at least if you can get the extra options to a model, like leather, Nav, rear DVD, parking sensors, etc, etc...you can hopefully market the vehicle correctly on the website(s) by showing it all under the comments area.

My Cars.com rep sent me a good document that the salespeople that actually trade in the vehicle, fill out about the condition, extras, etc. Now getting that used is the hardest part...

 

[Glen Garvin]

When it comes to used vehicles, to get a really good display of equipment - the stuff that people care about - it takes a manual effort. The VIN explosion process can be great and when a human takes the time to select the appropriate trim and important features, it really differentiates the vehicle on-line.

I've heard from many a consumer who uses the vehicle photos to look at options to determine if the vehicle has a certain piece of equipment or not.

In my opinion, the best practice is to assign (inspect what you expect) a person to this process. Whether that is an employee, appraiser or third-party vendor doesn't matter as much as getting someone to take it seriously.

Differentiation with video, photos, pricing and marketing is all part of the on-line advertisement... why leave out the important differentiating features?!

 

[Gerald]

Great topic. Commenting on equipment IS important, but I see few (none almost) even putting vehicle specific comments on their pre-owned inventory. This is time-consuming, but very important, yet few are doing it. It is relatively simple to do after sitting in the car, take notes on the condition, options, etc., what appeals to you, and spell it out in the listing. At the same time,you can use the observations to ensure optional equipment is listed as well.