Vital Insights into Key Data Points for Largest Market Segment
By Anne Fleming
In its first analysis of the top 10 car brands of 2015, Women-Drivers.com provides insights into women car buyers preferences and experiences. The report includes the top selling brands by units sold including Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Jeep, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru, and GMC (in descending order).
This information, now available in the report: “Women Car Buyers – Analysis of Top 10 Brands,” includes the top sales brands (from GoodCarBadCar.net) with data about what women have experienced while shopping, buying and servicing their vehicles at new car dealerships. This data is specifically generated from participating dealers who are certified through Women-Drivers.com. It helps forward-thinking dealerships understand the nuances by brand for women buyers who are the largest buying segment and influence the most purchases. Unlike other reputation sites, the source of the information comes from reviews and opt-in surveys.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Perhaps conventional wisdom says that most buyers are basically alike, that a “one-size fits all” approach is simple and works fine. The report indicates otherwise. While some results from the survey across brands appears similar, there are enough differences to warrant a closer look.
Time spent purchasing varies by brand
The average time women spent purchasing a vehicle at a dealership ranged from 2 hours and 48 minutes for Honda, to 3 hours and 51 minutes for Kia. Knowing how much time women spend, on average, buying a vehicle can help dealers look at ways to shorten the cycle and make it a more pleasant experience with less down-time.
Proximity
Another interesting statistic is that Hyundai and Kia buyers purchased at the dealership closest to home (64.4% and 61.4%, respectively) while only 34.8% of Honda buyers purchased closest to home. Combining this information with how many dealerships a woman may visit prior to her purchase can provide insights into how car dealer reviews attract female buyers and the effectiveness of advertising campaigns.
Servicing
When it comes to women customers servicing at the original purchasing dealership, GMC leads the way with 77.1%, compared to only 46.9% for Toyota. Why would this be important? When selling Toyotas, it becomes critical to up-sell the service department during the purchase process to increase the revenue over the life of the car. Retention matters. So does an overnight courtesy vehicle; it’s the number 1 requested item by women in the service lane.
To buy or not to buy
A very helpful section of the report includes reasons and emotions experienced by women buyers of the top 10 brands. For example, the top reasons women did not buy at the first dealership range from still looking, to a poor price, to not being satisfied with the way she was treated. Once a woman leaves a dealership, there is a six out of 10 chance she won’t return. Knowing to look out for the “did not buy” reasons can make all the difference between a successful and lost sale. Having highly engaging sales advisers that listen and ask questions is paramount.
Buying alone
And what happens when a sales advisor assumes that a woman shopping alone is not ready to buy? Over 52.5% of Ford buyers in this report purchased their vehicle alone. Making the assumption those buyers were coming back with someone else, or even mentioning something to that effect, might send them off to another dealer down the street. Nationally, 45% of women report buying a car alone.
In today’s information-rich world, it is sometimes difficult to sort out what really matters. Reports like the “Women Car Buyers and the Top 10 Brands” distill key data points by brand into easily understood analysis that can help you drive more dollars to your dealership’s bottom line.
The company produces similar reports to provide value-add intel for OEMs and dealerships who want make decisions based on data-driven evidence for this powerful purchasing demographic.
If you are interested in learning more from the report: https://women-drivers.com/2016-top-10-car-brands/
