Last week, one of our Gurus, Audrey, had the chance to attend Google’s Think Auto 2019. The event was packed with interesting insights and takeaways for those in the automotive industry. One interesting topic that came up was the idea that changing customer desires and technological disruption are pushing the Canadian automotive industry to a competitive tipping point. In other words, to win in today’s market, dealers need to make data their competitive advantage.
There were many other interesting themes that kept coming up though. Here are some of the highlights:
- Engaging Millennials is a must. They’re all grown up now and make up 40% of the buying market today. In fact, they’re the largest car buying segment in Canada. Manage your dealer reputation and provide a good experience to win their business.
- Consumers are looking for video content—provide it. Videos are a great way to authentically connect with shoppers. In your videos, show at least one feature or function of your vehicle and how it works through demonstration. Don’t discount the voiceover of your video though, as it can be incredibly powerful in attracting shoppers.
- Attribution is more important than ever. The path to purchase is not linear—it’s varied and complex, which means dealers need to think more about all of a shopper’s different touchpoints throughout their scattered journey. For example, using dealer visit reports and looking at store sales directly in Google Analytics 360 is a great starting point. Until there’s a one-size-fits-all solution for dealers, we expect that attribution will continue to be a hot topic.
So, dealers who leverage data to reach shoppers, provide easy access to the info consumers want, and deliver a great buying experience are going to see continued success in Canada.
To learn more about how CarGurus can help your dealership, reach out to your rep today.