Auto dealers continue to evolve their online marketing efforts to attract, engage, and convert online shoppers. There are many opportunities for dealers to improve their online presence, but prioritizing those investments can be a challenge. Which investments will be rewarded by consumers with higher engagement, showroom visits, and ultimately more sales?

PCG created a survey to investigate specific areas of the consumer shopping journey that we believe have not been adequately covered in previous industry research. Our questions were designed to explore the influence of merchandising strategies that include investments in photography, video, online reviews, and haggle-free pricing.

Despite numerous articles regarding the growth of mobile traffic to auto dealership websites, our discussions with dealers indicated that there are still some stereotypes that needed to be dispelled. Consumers who choose to shop for their next vehicle on a mobile device are serious shoppers. Consumers in our survey said that they use all the devices that they own during the online research and shopping process.

It is insane for dealers to spend thousands of dollars on month on marketing, which drives consumers to look at a dealership’s vehicles, if the vehicles are not merchandised properly to meet the expectations of the shopper.

We hope that dealers and industry consultants reading this report will work closer together to create a better shopping experience for consumers.