Growing Use of Digital and Mobile Tools Enable Greater Efficiency for Dealers and Drive Consumer Engagement and Loyalty
LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Dealertrack Technologies (Nasdaq: TRAK) has found that dealers who invested in digital retailing, advertising and mobile technologies to provide a better online to in-store consumer journey achieved new levels of customer engagement and dealership profitability in 2014.
Dealertrack’s unique level of market reach gives the company compelling insight into what existing and future technologies are driving the industry forward. Dealertrack’s data shows that dealers who adopted digital retailing tools on their website generated more than 70,000 vehicle sales in 2014, and attained a 30 percent average lead-to-sale close ratio.
In addition, Dealertrack found that dealers who integrated mobile applications technology throughout their operations benefit from higher sales and customer satisfaction. For example, dealers saw an average profit increase of $200 per deal using eMenu for iPad; a 77 percent increase in profit-per-vehicle sold (PVR); and the number of F&I products sold per deal increased 73 percent with eMenu for iPad.
“The traditional car shopping experience continued to evolve dramatically in 2014, with consumers focused on shortening the overall process and taking advantage of the latest technologies to do so,” said Raj Sundaram, co-president, Dealertrack. “For dealers, the future lies in the adoption of innovative digital and mobile technologies to deliver the same level of efficiency consumers experience in shopping for other goods and services.
“Our 2014 data revealed that the power of the Dealertrack connected solution – which brings together the online shopping experience and in-store process – is significant. We expect dealers to increase their investment in and adoption of digital and mobile technologies that enable them to operate more efficiently while controlling key deal parameters and tailoring use of the tools to their unique market requirements,” Sundaram added.
Additional Dealertrack data and insights from 2014 includes:
- Engagement metrics saw considerable growth when 2014 was compared to 2013. Car-shoppers spent 20 percent more time on dealers’ websites and viewed nine percent more pages in 2014.
- Digital leads (form submissions) grew by 23 percent in 2014 when compared to 2013.
- Dealers with a digital retailing experience on their website yielded a 30 percent average lead to sale close rate.
- Mobile and tablet traffic were the fastest growing segments. Mobile traffic grew by 42 percent and tablet traffic grew by 33 percent when 2014 was compared to 2013.
- Mobile engagement also followed suit with notable year-over-year gains. Mobile car shoppers viewed 113 percent more pages per session and spent 80 percent more time on mobile sites in 2014.
- Dealers experienced a 13 percent increase in website lead volume over the first 30 days of implementing a digital retailing workflow on their website.
- The average consumer spends eight minutes calculating payment options on a dealer’s website within a Digital Retailing workflow.
- Dealer investment for digital advertising is up 34 percent year-over-year.
- Overall dealer advertising spend through Dealertrack’s Digital Marketing solutions in 2014 was $177M, up from $94M the previous year.
- On the Dealertrack platform, dealers produced 13 billion digital advertising impressions, nearly doubled from 2013 (7 billion).
About Dealertrack’s Data
Total website metrics were sourced from Dealertrack’s proprietary data collection architecture and included all U.S. clients for the period 1/1/2013 – 12/31/2014. Mobile and tablet metrics were sourced from Dealertrack’s master data segment in GoogleAnalytics for the same time period. All metrics were normalized to account for differing time periods and number of clients.
About Dealertrack Technologies (www.dealertrack.com)
Dealertrack Technologies’ intuitive and high-value web-based software solutions and services enhance efficiency and profitability for all major segments of the automotive retail industry, including dealers, lenders, vehicle manufacturers, third-party retailers, agents and aftermarket providers. In addition to the industry’s largest online credit application network, connecting more than 20,000 dealers with more than 1,500 lenders, Dealertrack Technologies delivers the industry’s most comprehensive solution set for automotive retailers, including Dealer Management System (DMS), Inventory, Sales and F&I, Digital Marketing andRegistration and Titling solutions.
Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
Statements in this press release regarding the benefits of Dealertrack’s solutions, any conclusions or statements based thereon and all other statements in this release other than the recitation of historical facts are forward-looking statements (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements of Dealertrack Technologies to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.
Factors that might cause such a difference include the performance and acceptance of the Dealertrack solutions, the performance of Dealertrack’s third-party partners, and other risks listed in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2013 and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. These filings can be found on Dealertrack Technologies’ website atwww.dealertrack.com and the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Forward-looking statements included herein speak only as of the date hereof and Dealertrack Technologies disclaims any obligation to revise or update such statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events or circumstances.
Media:
Dealertrack Technologies
Alison von Puschendorf, (877) 327-8422 x7366
alison.vonpushendorf@dealertrack.com
Michael DeMeo, (516) 734-3691
michael.demeo@dealertrack.com
Source: Dealertrack Technologies
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