CHICAGO, Jan. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Placed
Inc., 63% of car shoppers now use their smartphones to do research
and make decisions while at automotive dealerships. In an
independent study commissioned by Cars.com, Placed Inc. found that
on-lot mobile "showrooming" significantly influences both
dealership and vehicle selection, with pricing information,
inventory availability and mobile advertisements persuading
shoppers to visit competing dealerships – behavior that mirrors
traditional retail shopping. To download the full report, please
visit: http://dealeradvantage.cars.com/on-lot-mobile-study.
"In the same way online advertising revolutionized the
automotive retail industry over the past decade, mobile shopping
has exploded in just the past year, fundamentally changing the way
dealers need to engage with customers," said Alex Vetter, senior vice president at Cars.com.
"Retailers should take immediate action to make mobile a
cornerstone of their marketing strategy or risk losing out to
mobile-savvy competitors."
The study examined survey response and location data from more
than 500 participants following visits to automotive dealerships,
through the Placed smartphone app.
The study's findings include:
- Universal adoption: 81% of auto shoppers used
smartphones to do research when purchasing a vehicle, including 63%
who used their smartphone while physically at an automotive
dealership. A quarter (25%) of auto shoppers conducted research
using a smartphone only, prior to visiting a dealership.
- Automotive "showrooming": The study found that mobile
auto shoppers were 72% more likely to visit an additional
dealership than shoppers who did not use a smartphone. Top on-lot
activities included calculating price and payment information,
confirming vehicle availability and comparing local competitors. Of
shoppers who visited more than one dealership, more than half (52%)
did so because of information gathered on their mobile device.
- Mobile ad Influence: Advertising played a key role in
influencing decisions as 33% of shoppers were lured to a competing
dealership based on a mobile advertisement found while on a dealer
lot.
"There's been similar research around showrooming across other
retail categories, but this is the first time anyone has been able
to look quantitatively at mobile consumer behavior within
automotive with this level of detail," said David Shim, Founder and CEO at Placed. "A
vehicle is one of the largest retail purchases a consumer makes, so
it's understandable that shoppers use every resource available -
including their smartphone - to make what is often a very complex,
calculated decision."
The study also analyzed the role of third-party automotive
marketplace sites in on-lot mobile auto research. The top 4
third-party in-market shopping websites (Cars.com, AutoTrader, KBB,
Edmunds) were utilized by 56% of on-lot mobile users in the study,
far surpassing use of manufacturer websites, dealership websites
and search engines. This signals a consumer need for unbiased
third-party information while on the lot in order to confirm car
buying decisions.
To download the Cars.com Mobile Device Use at the
Dealership whitepaper, please visit:
http://dealeradvantage.cars.com/on-lot-mobile-study.
ABOUT CARS.COM
Cars.com is an award-winning online
destination for car shoppers that offers information from consumers
and experts to help buyers formulate opinions on what to buy, where
to buy and how much to pay for a car. Cars.com offers thousands of
new and used vehicle listings, consumer reviews, side-by-side
comparison tools, photo galleries, videos, unbiased editorial
content and many other tools. Cars.com puts millions of car buyers
in control of their shopping process with the information they need
to make confident buying decisions. Launched in June 1998, Cars.com is a division of Classified
Ventures LLC, which is owned by leading media companies, including
A.H. Belo (NYSE: AHC), Gannett Co.,
Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI), Tribune
Company and The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO).
ABOUT PLACED INC.
Placed is the leader in
location-driven insights and mobile ad intelligence. Measuring
billions of locations across the world's largest opt-in mobile
location panel, Placed provides the most complete understanding of
consumers' offline behaviors.
Connecting the physical and digital worlds, Placed gives brands,
agencies, publishers and ad networks the ability to target location
at scale, measure the offline impact of mobile ads, and deliver
actionable insights into consumer behavior. Founded in January 2011, Placed is headquartered in
Seattle and is backed by Madrona
Venture Group.
SOURCE Cars.com