CHICAGO, Jan. 30,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cars.com Inc. (NYSE: CARS)
(d/b/a "Cars Commerce Inc."), an audience-driven technology company
empowering automotive, today shared the top three dealer pain
points in 2024 and how the company plans to help its customers
solve these challenges to unleash growth. This news comes ahead of
the 2024 NADA Show in Las Vegas
Feb. 2-4, where dealers and partners
can experience the Cars Commerce platform and its connected
solutions live in booth #3421W.
"The challenges our industry faces in 2024 aren't new. Consumers
are digital-first, retailers are dealing with declining
profitability and OEMs and dealers need to work together to solve
for the seamless integration of online and in-store shopping
experiences," said Alex Vetter, CEO
of Cars Commerce. "What is new is the technology we now have
in place to solve these challenges. We built the Cars Commerce
platform to solve the connected-commerce conundrum in automotive.
Our platform unites the tiers and connects the shopper experience
all while reducing complexity for retailers so they can sell more
cars more profitably."
According to a Cars Commerce dealer survey conducted in
January 2024, the top three pain
points automotive retailers are faced with this year are: Capturing
higher-quality shoppers to drive market share, acquiring more used
inventory and turning it for higher profit, and differentiating a
dealership from its competitors.
(1) Capturing higher-quality shoppers to drive market
share.
If there's one thing a dealership – even a large
multi-rooftop group – can't do, it's build a national distribution
network of 26 million ready-to-buy car shoppers all in one place at
the scale of a trusted marketplace like Cars.com¹. Cars.com has the
highest percentage of organic traffic in its category – at over
60%² – and generates the most dealer website referrals per dealer
compared to its closest competitors³. Not to mention, Cars.com hit
a new all-time company record for total traffic in 2023,
demonstrating continued growth in consumer demand for the No. 1
most-recognized automotive marketplace brand⁴.
To help its customers better leverage its unique audience and
convert shoppers to buyers, Cars Commerce will debut at NADA VIN
Performance Media, a new advertising solution that dynamically
positions a retailer's inventory in front of interested shoppers
across search, social and display. The single-solution approach
saves time and money while maximizing ad performance. In a recent
pilot, VIN Performance Media delivered a 83% uptick in referral
traffic to a dealer's website and a 66% increase in referral
conversions⁵.
According to Vetter, "The quickest way to reach local car
shoppers and get a return on your advertising investment is to tap
into the highly exclusive audience we've built, scrubbed and
scrutinized over the last 25 years. This isn't rocket science – you
have to be positioned in front of the right people who are buying
what you're selling."
(2) Acquiring more used inventory and turning it for higher
profit.
New-car supply is up 45% year-over-year on Cars.com
and steadily improving⁶. Supply has rebounded to levels similar to
February 2021 and OEM incentives and
rebates have materially increased from a year ago – for all intents
and purposes, 2024 will be a "normal" year in terms of new-car
inventory levels. As consumer demand begins to tick up for new
cars, used inventory will be easier to access. The question for
retailers is: How are you going to identify, find and procure the
exact vehicles you need for your lot that will turn faster and for
more profit?
AccuTrade, which can be demoed at NADA, offers
instant, guaranteed cash offers for the 26 million in-market
consumers on Cars.com – 56% of whom plan to trade-in a vehicle
before they buy⁷ – and for the consumers visiting a dealer's
website. But the reach extends beyond that: AccuTrade's Onboard
Diagnostics (OBD) tool empowers everyone in the dealership to
generate VIN-specific valuations from anywhere – in the showroom,
on the lot, in the service drive or on the street – within minutes.
Importantly, retailers can provide consumers with 100% confidence
in any vehicle they appraise, and simply leverage the guaranteed
offer backed by Cars Commerce for any vehicles they've procured
that they don't want to retail.
Through more than 1.9 million appraisals completed in 2023,
retailers leveraged the AccuTrade technology to unlock new
opportunities for acquisition growth. Half of the retailers
leveraging AccuTrade in the service drive in 2023 at least doubled
their volume of service drive appraisals from January to
December.⁸
"The biggest mistake a retailer could make in 2024 is continuing
to waste time, energy and money at outdated physical auctions to
acquire used inventory. A healthy fleet is on the street – and
AccuTrade can help you access it," said Vetter.
(3) Differentiating a dealership from its
competitors.
According to Cars Commerce, winning the
differentiation game in 2024 comes down to how well a retailer
promotes his or her unique experience, and a dealership's customers
serve as the ultimate judge.
In an era where online reviews significantly influence consumer
decisions on what and where to buy, the Cars.com Experience Report,
available at NADA, is more than a measure of consumer satisfaction;
it's an analytical tool that delivers data-driven insights from the
platform's 13 million consumer reviews. The personalized report
uncovers critical reputation-drivers for a dealership, dealership
group or brand. The Experience Report includes metrics like review
response rates and lead response quality, with a keen focus on
financing, trade-in and price transparency from across review
platforms on Cars.com, DealerRater, Google and Facebook.
"This year what will really separate the winners from the losers
will come down to how efficiently retailers invest in and advertise
their experience," said Vetter. "As new-car inventory comes back,
competition will heat up and most retailers will fall back on old
habits — competing merely on price – but our industry needs to move
beyond that and we have the solutions to make it happen."
Retailers who meet today's digital-first, convenience-focused
generation where they are with messages about their "guaranteed
instant cash offers right from the service drive," their "speedy
trade-in and sales process," their "5-star reviews," their
"seamless online to offline experience" and their "digital instant
financing tools to get pre-approved before coming into the
dealership" will win the price war and far outpace the
competition.
¹ Total Monthly Unique Visitors, Cars.com Internal Data, Q3
2023
² Cars.com Total Organic Traffic, Cars.com Internal
Data, January 2024
³ Total
Website Referrals from Cars.com to Dealer Inspire Websites, Cars
Commerce Internal Data, Q4 2023
⁴ Cars.com Brand Tracker,
Q4 2023
⁵ Cars.com Pilot vs Launch Data, Comparing
Nov. 1- Dec. 31, 2022 (pilot) to
Sep. 1-Oct. 31, 2023 (after
launch)
⁶ Cars.com Inventory Data, December 2023
⁷ Cars.com Consumer
Metrics Survey, January
2024
⁸ Internal AccuTrade Data,
January-December 2023
ABOUT CARS COMMERCE
Cars Commerce is an
audience-driven technology company empowering automotive that
simplifies everything about buying and selling cars. The Cars
Commerce platform includes the flagship automotive marketplace and
dealer reputation site Cars.com, innovative digital marketing
technology and services from Dealer Inspire, industry-leading
trade-in and appraisal technology from AccuTrade, an exclusive
in-market media network, and powerful and predictive AI
technologies that enable more efficient and profitable retail
operations. Cars Commerce is the essential partner to stay one step
ahead in automotive. Learn more at www.carscommerce.inc.
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SOURCE Cars Commerce