From Clickz:
The Internet has put car shoppers in the driver’s seat, allowing them to research models, comparison shop, and obtain pricing information. As independent auto sites and vehicle manufacturer sites race to attract the most visitors, car shoppers agree that the Internet is an integral part of the buying process.
A 2004 study from J.D. Power and Associates of nearly 29,000 new car-focused consumers found that while most (58 percent) vehicle buyers start with an independent auto site, manufacturers’ Web sites are gaining popularity. Auto shoppers who visit manufacturers’ sites first increased from 36 percent in 2003 to 40 percent in 2004.
Satisfaction among car shoppers who frequent independent sites has dropped, while manufacturers’ sites have measured improvement. More than half (59 percent) of survey participants said they find independent sites most useful, and 39 percent said the same about the manufacturers’ sites.
J.D. Power and Associates found that roughly half of the survey respondents said their make/model decision and the price paid/offered were impacted by automotive information found on the Internet, up from about 40 percent in 2002. Also, 22 percent of new vehicle buyers also say the Internet impacted their choice of dealer — up from 14 percent in 2002.
Furthermore, a Consumer Reports study of nearly 14,000 participants found that 80 percent researched prices before buying, and the largest portion (71 percent) of that group found the information on the Web. New car dealerships trailed as a source of pricing information at 58 percent, followed by books, magazines, and newspapers with 16 percent of shoppers.
Can you make money with a Used Car Website? Steve MacLellan the author of the book/software combo talks about his experience that forms the basis of this package:
Just over two years ago I moved home to Nova Scotia. A person I knew was suffering from job burn out, but she needed a a source of income to help feed her family. I decided I would build a used car website that sold advertising to the local dealers and displayed their inventory.
While doing my market research, I found some other sites in this province using an open-source database program to do this, so I downloaded the application and customized for my purpose.
I bookmarked two of the websites using the same software as I would use. These sites could potentially be competitors, although they were giving (for free) the same advertising I planned on charging for. Surprisingly enough… even for free… they had very few vehicles listed in their databases.
In 90 days the site went from $0.00 profit to $3,000.00 per month and continued to grow. Relatively speaking you could call it an overnight success. People were recognizing the site from the car magnets stuck to the side of the car and stopping us in town to give us their orders. The fax machine was spitting out orders, others were coming in from the secure ordering process, and new dealerships were calling and asking us how they could sign-up.
Still, the sites using the same software were struggling just trying to give away their advertising. Yes, I must admit… one of these sites even used a more attractive template then the one I created.
No comments yet.