You can buy groceries, fill prescriptions and order dinner online within minutes. Why should the car-shopping experience be any different? It’s no surprise that 75% of car shoppers want to know their payment before walking through the door. Dealers who can bridge the gap from online to offline are in a great position to win more customers. A recent Digital Retailing Consumer Survey from Cars.com states that “84% of used-car shoppers and 77% of new-car shoppers agree that shopping online for a vehicle makes the process much easier. Above everything else, all car shoppers want the price negotiation to be as easy as possible.” (Oct. 3, 2019)

Online Shopper™ is the solution! Online Shopper is a dealer website tool that addresses the needs of both the car shopper and dealership through a seamless experience. Customers get to explore their desired payment, trade-in value, real-time loan options and rebate eligibility. This “unpacks” the deal for them, increasing their confidence level while providing your store with a wealth of information with their lead submission. The “Get E-Price” lead form model causes dealerships to lose customers during a crucial point in the shopping journey. Instead, engaging shoppers as they view your website/listings is the key to future automotive sales success.

Internet Director Joe Laney at Waldorf Chevrolet Cadillac in Maryland saw quick results as soon as he integrated Online Shopper™. “Online Shopper allows the customer to take more ownership over the process. It makes them more comfortable to walk in the door. It’s no surprises,” he explained. 

Here are the top three reasons why Waldorf Chevrolet Cadillac has seen success with Online Shopper. 

1. Growth every month: “You got to pay attention to a lead source when you are seeing steady growth. Every month we see sales increase from Online Shopper and that’s why I’m onboard,” Laney said. Since going live, Laney has seen an increase in sales attributed to the product, to nearly 25 vehicles in September 2019.
2. Lower-funnel new-car shoppers: “New-car leads are usually from a high-funnel shopper. Online Shopper helps the customer become lower in the funnel since they are more invested in the process,” Laney said.
3. Customer satisfaction: “The process becomes less entangled for the shopper. They actually know their figures when they come in, which saves time at the dealership,” he said. Laney added that the streamlined process allows his team to pick up where the customer left off, adding to a positive customer experience and closing the loop quicker.

Liz Swain, Cars.com product marketing manager, explains how Online Shopper empowers dealers to provide customers with what they need to buy their new vehicle: “Online Shopper allows consumers to value their trade-in, self-report their credit score and receive real-time bank offers all before stepping foot into a dealership. Online Shopper allows consumers full transparency into what they should expect to pay, allowing shoppers to explore all of their options in the comfort of their home. Online Shopper not only saves consumers time but also dealers time as we pass all of this pertinent information over to the dealer in real-time so they can better assist the shopper when they come into the dealership. Online Shopper is a win for both consumers and dealers.”

Interested in how to future-proof your dealership? Learn more about how to level up your sales like Joe Laneyby entering your information below.