Are you using Google the right way? We know there has been a lot of transformation and competition in retail automotive, but nearly all vehicle shoppers go online to find information. On today’s Inside Automotive, we’re joined by Lissette Gole, the Head of Automotive Retail at Google, to elaborate more on Google’s 2023 Dealer Guidebook and how you can best use it to beat the competition.
Overview:
The Guidebook aims to answer dealerships’ most frequently asked question: How can Google help dealerships sell more vehicles, drive more fixed operations, and make more money? According to Gole, those questions are why Google developed the guidebook, to provide the auto retail advertisers with strategies that help increase profitability today while preparing them for the future. “When we first made a big splash with Google’s Dealer Guidebook, it was at NADA in 2020. Then the following month, COVID happened. So, we had to refresh it again in 2021 after COVID due to the rapidly changing industry,” asserts Gole. The Google Automotive Retail team recently refreshed the Guidebook to ensure that what they created aligned with dealers as they navigate the ever-evolving industry.
“Now, in 2023, the industry is at another shift, so we need to ensure that our Guidebook is more durable and withstand the long-term trends,” says Gole. As Google is an AI industry and has been since 2016, it’s imperative that they are anchoring all of their solutions through the power of AI to assist dealers with being in front of the customers and making profitability easy.
Key pillars:
The 2023 Google Dealer Guidebook is simplified into a few key pillars. Gole notes these are the industry trends that have taken hold across the entire sector, including:
- Customer loyalty
- Shortened research time to buy
- Ev options
- Fixed operations
- Parts and services
“I found customer loyalty to be the most interesting because it’s at an all-time low,” said Gole. This suggests that there is no allegiance to OEMs, dealers, or the traditional make-and-model segment. In addition, economic challenges like COVID, limited inventory, supply shortages, or the rise of EVs could all be contributing factors to the low loyalty rate.
For a copy of Google’s Dealer Guidebook, Gole recommends contacting your Google account representative.
