Įngaged (quality) shoppers – CarGurus says they have the highest average time on site per shoppers at 21 minutes vs. On mobile search CarGurus also outspent their competitors capturing 23.1% of used car search vs 13.2% for. In Q1 2019 CarGurus captured 23.7% of Desktop used car search volume vs 19.5% for AutoTrader. CarGurus outspends both and AutoTrader on paid search. Shoppers – CarGurus boast the largest monthly shopper volume among the three major listings sites with over 40M monthly shoppers. CarGurus has focused on the consumer frustrations with the difficulty of shopping for a car in their ad creative with “ The Detective” where a man has outlined his car shopping with a complex diagram as complicated crime would be analyzed, and recently “ The Less Painful Way” features a dentist explaining that people would rather visit her than shop for a car. CarGurus is emerging as the new brand leader among 3rd party advertising solutions and has added a significant brand presence on TV, outspending AutoTrader in early 2019 with $6.6 million spend in January and February compared with $5.5 million for AutoTrader. . Selling Experience – Dealers are accustomed to receiving “white glove” service from their local AutoTrader representative with frequent dealership visits and a variety of reports to justify the premium prices and upgrade options AutoTrader sells.īrand – CarGurus has had a strong search presence with an advantage over other providers in organic search rankings and traffic. Both AutoTrader and have followed CarGurus’s lead by labeling pricing as Good or Great, with AutoTrader’s labels corresponding to KBB used car values. While consumers prioritize relevance, (make/model, color, price, distance from home) AutoTrader has presented listings based on premiums paid dealerships for a “alpha” ad positions or elevated “featured” or “spotlight” positioning in search results. Shopping Experience – A valid critique of AutoTrader has been the over-segmentation of their search results with several tiers of inventory designed to capture additional fees from dealerships. Counting only email leads, this study showed AutoTrader’s sold rate (7.6%) to be higher than Edmunds (6%), CarGurus (5.3%), TrueCar (4%) and (3.8%). AutoTrader receives approximately 20M unique monthly shoppers to their website which puts them close to the same volume as and at roughly half of CarGurus’s reported volume.Įngaged (quality) Shoppers - Lately AutoTrader has an initiative to promote the quality of their leads vs the competition with a 2019 study of VinSolutions CRM data showing that their leads convert at a rate 60% higher than the industry average. This stat decline to 50% in a 2018, and lately AutoTrader has focused on shopper quality stats instead of shopper quantity. AutoTrader research from 2011 showed that up to 80% of shoppers did not contact a dealer prior to visiting. Dealers wanting more leads were commonly told that the vast majority of AutoTrader shoppers walk into a dealership with no prior contact. Shoppers - AutoTrader has sold dealers on the quantity and quality of their shoppers over the years and has steered away from talking about leads. The campaign has been updated since COVID-19 to “ Finally It’s Easy (From Home)” to highlight dealerships that are now offering home delivery. With their latest TV creative, AutoTrader tried humor, with the “ Finally It’s Easy” campaign featuring people from 18th century France and the middle ages discussing how easy it was to buy a car on AutoTrader.

AutoTrader has been an active TV advertiser and has a strong presence in sports with advertising campaigns in nearly all professional sports and an ongoing advertising partnership with the NBA. This series of posts will analyze the strengths and limitations of each providers and layout a strategy to make the right decision regarding providers and budgets for your dealership.īrand - AutoTrader has historically been brand leader in the category going back to the mid 1970s with is print magazine. Ideally, efficient reach among “in-market” shoppers.Įach of the three main providers each has its own product and sales strategy.

Instead, the true value of these products is reach.

Unlike dealership brand or digital campaigns, these websites are not designed to drive loyalty or differentiate a dealership from its competition. Dealerships spend anywhere from $2,000 - $20,000 per vendor month on 3rd party websites with little definitive sales attribution. In 12 years of auto retailing marketing, without question the most debated item on a dealership’s budget is its spend on 3rd party vehicle listings sites (automotive marketplaces). Am I spending too much on AutoTrader? How is performing? Do I have the right CarGurus package?

Car selling websites like cargurus