Today’s consumer is increasingly reliant on the internet to accomplish everyday tasks. And the car shopping process is certainly on that list. But the days of browsing on desktops – and even laptops – are soon to be long-gone.
Now, shoppers increasingly turn to their mobile devices and tablets as the first choice for doing almost anything online, instantly. That includes general search, content consumption, social media, and – importantly – shopping for a new car.
The experience car shoppers want, where they want it.
According to a recent study on the mobile influence of car shopping, 78% of car shoppers used a mobile browser to compare and shop dealer inventory in 2016. And mobile was #1 source of clicks-to-contact on dealership websites.
As smartphone usage continues to grow, consumers continue to develop specific ideas of what they want from a mobile experience – as well as what they don’t want. By working to understand and satisfy these preferences, automotive marketers can ensure their digital strategies are offering what shoppers want, and their websites are effectively driving demand.
Clearly, today’s high-speed switch to on-the-go car shopping puts increased pressure on dealers to ensure their digital marketing strategy puts mobile first. Without a fully optimized mobile offering, you’re likely to miss major opportunities to meet and exceed shopper expectations, increase conversions, and boost incremental sales.
To your consumers, speed is everything.
A recent study found that a whopping 40% of shoppers won’t wait more than three seconds for a page to load. That means if your dealership’s mobile landing page experience can’t keep pace, that potential customer is highly likely to abandon before you ever get the chance for a sale.
To put the importance of an optimized mobile experience into even sharper perspective, data supports that a mere one-second delay in page response can result in a 7% reduction in conversions. Which means optimizing your mobile experience can have a measurable impact on calls, leads and chats coming from your site..
If your landing pages don’t put mobile first, they’ll put conversions last.
Before you consider a complete site redesign, take a moment to focus on one of the most important elements of the conversion pathway: your mobile VDPs. A major chunk of your digital spend goes toward driving shopper demand to your vehicle details pages, but if they’re landing on pages that take too long to load or aren’t optimized for mobile, those dollars are as good as wasted. (You can test how quickly your website pages are loading on mobile by using Google’s free online assessment tool.)
Ensuring your digital spend goes toward driving shoppers to landing pages that are fully optimized for the mobile experience is a smart way to meet your customers expectations and give consumers what they want in an online shopping experience. In many cases, just focusing your energies here, without major changes elsewhere, can be enough to increase conversions and move the needle significantly.
Because mobile is the number one source of clicks-to-contact on dealership websites, a VDP that’s optimized for mobile and provides the information and experience that will satisfy a shopper is crucial.
When you offer potential customers the option to engage in the way they prefer, expect increased increased leads, calls and chats, with more purchase ready shoppers focused on the cars you want to sell most. Auto experts say the most important conversions for a dealer’s landing page to offer are:
- I’m interested (text)
2. Is this car still available (text)
3. Schedule test drive (email)
4. Get best price (email)
5. Get eprice (email)
6. Lease price (email)
7. Click to call (call)
8. Click to chat (chat)
A fast track to conversion-optimized VDPs.
The LotLinx suite of conversion-enhancing solutions includes technology that helps dealers optimize their mobile pages to more effectively convert shoppers. It’s a streamlined way to translate the growth in mobile to growth in the bottom line.
A LotLinx digital expert would be happy to tell you more. Just visit lotlinx.com, or call 1-800-625-5469.
