When do you release your dealers inventory?

[Alex Snyder]

Brian Tucker (Internet Director at Swope Toyota) and I (Alex Snyder) had a long conversation about this the other evening and we wanted to hear what you guys have to say.  This is the email Brian sent that sparked the conversation:

I would like to hear some feedback on what is considered “best practice” on listing your inventory with third party sites such as AutoTrader.com or Cars.com. When is the best time to release inventory and what processes do you guys
and gals have in place to ensure that it is done correctly?

1. DMS sends the inventory live without any prices or info and use default stock images until the proper photos and comments can be placed?
   
2. Send inventory live after initial quick review and use a place holder such as a “out for bath” icon in place of the stock images until photos and info are ready?
   
3. Do not release inventory till it is completely web ready and all pictures, custom comments and service inspections have been completed.

I have tried variations of all three and have some different opinions on each but would love to hear some feedback from the PROS!

 

[Brian in Etown]

would also like to hear from some atc and cars reps on this as well!

 

[Robin Frey]

We recently started using HomeNet to poll from our DMS. I have it set up so that it does not export the vehicles until I upload the photos and have added any after-market or Dealer Installed options (all photos get done the same day the car goes on our lot). I found this to be the best way because it sometimes takes third party vendors more than 24 hours to update an existing vehicle. Also, this way our sales reps are aware of the vehicle and have all the information at thier fingertips.

 

[Edward Shaffer]

We post every vehicle ASAP when it hits the inventory. We do not use the DMS feed to populate, choosing to manually input the vehicles into our eBizAutos system which then feeds everything else. We find that getting the inventory online quickly and without pictures actually generates a good flow of emails and phone calls. We then monitor the vehicles as they go through the make ready.recon process and photo them right after the detail so the car is as clean as it will ever be.

 

[Brian in Etown]

@Robin
Like the tire pictures! I would ask how you do that but Joe Pistol might yell at me
How much time do you all spend on prepping the pics?

 

[Eric Miltsch (blog)]

We automate as much as possible.

- Vehicles booked in DMS using proper status codes (service, in-stock, transit, etc)
- In-stock vehices are feed to CDM
- Only front-line ready vehicles are shot; uploaded same day
- Once loaded to the site, CDM pushes feed to 3rd party channels
- B/C of the # of cars fed out daily, vehicle descriptions are left in tact. No add'l editing is done in the listings as that cuts the feed. (ie: autotrader.com)
- Once sold/booked out of DMS, vehicle pulled from CDM; 3rd party listings follow...

All listings have full descriptions, prices, #'s, etc...

If an online shopper has made it to one of your vehicles, why not make it even easier for them by providing all of the info they set out to find in the first place? Make the first impression as strong as possible...

 

[Brian T in Etown]

My dilemma would be this:
1) Send the inventory as quickly as possible and place a icon such as ”Coming soon”
Benefits of this strategy:

Inventory circulates third party listing sites and makes consumers aware you have this inventory and also confirms that your dealership updates information vs stock images that might project an image of not caring about the www audience. I also know from personal experience that I have sold leads that originated from incomplete listings and I am sure that other folks that visit this board would “tru dat”

2) Wait until service and cleanup has finished their process and take pictures in the best possible condition using the (UCI) Used Car Inspection to validate the personal story of the car.

Benefits of this strategy:

The story of the vehicle can be more precise all while building value using information available from the used car inspection. The pictures will be shot in the best possible conditions and you will maintain a strong, reputable online presence.

My suggestion for “Best Practice” would be to use a combination of 1 and 2 if I could convince others in the dealership chain of command that we would not damage our online reputation and that we could possibly be missing sales by not releasing our inventory as quickly as possible, in a perfect world it would be nice to have inventory ready for pictures and custom comments the day we trade for it. Does anybody know where I can buy real estate in this mythical “Perfect World”?

 

[andwrig]

Our inventory gets pulled by Homenet out of our DMS and then distributed to the various third party sites we use. I like to get the cars out asap even if I don't have pictures yet. We try to get our cars through the shop and on the lot with pictures within 10 days of receiving them because we employ a 60-70 day turn policy. My feeling is that if the car is not listed, it won't get exposure. Since the days a car has to get sold are numbered, we want them out there as quick as possible even if it is without actually pictures initially. At least a customer can see the color, mileage, trim level etc. and maybe call us or email for more info.

 

[Michael Rodriguez (blog)]

Our inventory also gets pulled by Homenet out of our DMS. There are MANY times when I get a call on a car that I am not even aware of that is found through a third-party. Thus the value is presented as the prospect is browsing and browsing and my vehicle caught their eye for one reason or another. The pitch rolls forward as while on the call and that is the time to close on the appointment. If photos are still needed, I shoot it after a quick clean up and send the photos directly to the prospect. I call the prospect immediately and do a presentation while they are browsing the photos. When the appointment is set, I get it bumped into service. When the photos are uploaded, so are the comments. This has seemed to be successful with our program.

 

[Chip Grueter]

As a car buyer, a listing without photos won't get a view from me. I don't know if it has to do with not getting my hopes up, or that I think maybe the car doesn't exist on the lot anymore, but I definitely tend to view ads with REAL photos of the car over listings without photos.

I don't think stock photos necessarily hurt in selling a car, but they don't help me out. I'd rather have a place holder image called "New Arrival" or something similar, and bookmark the page.

From a vendor perspective, managing feeds is the worst implementation of data transfer I have ever encountered. There is NO standardization and so we have to deal with everything from CSV to horribly thought out XML. It hinders the frequency of updates and it lengthens the amount of time to initial roll out.
/rant

Chip-