Purchasing a used car can be a stressful experience, especially when you’re unsure of the car’s exact value. Still, used car sales continue to grow at a faster pace than new car sales in Canada. Experts say affordability, as compared to new cars, as well as the higher quality and increased reliability of used cars in today’s market are driving this trend.
New technology, including what’s offered through third-party marketplaces, is also playing a big role by helping to make the used car buying experience easier and more transparent. In fact, a recent study showed 90% of Canadians go online to research their next car purchase, and 87% say that a positive experience on a website influences their purchase decision—that’s where CarGurus has the advantage.
Car shopping on CarGurus is simple and user-friendly. We make it easy for consumers to find great deals from top-rated dealers. Our focus on transparency and efficiency results in informed, engaged shoppers that drive results for dealers.
CarGurus’ best-deal-first approach delivers the best experience for shoppers
Technology like CarGurus’ Instant Market Value (IMV) helps consumers find the best deal first, based on their individual search criteria. IMV is an estimated fair retail price for a vehicle based on a detailed analysis of comparable listings in a local market. CarGurus computes and updates its IMV calculations every day using a complex algorithm based on millions of data points.
We use our proprietary IMV to inform deal ratings on our site—but we don’t stop there. The default search rankings are ordered by the best deals first. It’s a combination of how good the price is on a particular car, and how highly the dealer is rated by our users. Not only does this unique pricing transparency give shoppers the validation they need to feel confident they’re getting a good deal, but it also makes it possible for dealers to have control over where their vehicles show in search results.
Use the transparency CarGurus provides to build trust with consumers
Price transparency is the highest priority for Canadians shopping for big-ticket items like a house or car, according to a CarGurus survey. For dealers, this means that consumers don’t necessarily need to get the absolute lowest price on a car, they just want to feel confident that they’re getting a good deal from a transparent and trustworthy seller.
That’s why we make it obvious when listings are sponsored, and we never display more than three sponsored listings at the top of a search results page. Plus, dealers only qualify for these top spots if their cars fit the shopper’s search criteria, have a Fair or better deal rating, and the dealership has a Featured Listings package. In addition to the transparency of our search results, the clean design of our SRPs also keeps CarGurus’ highly engaged shoppers focused and on track to buy your car.
This added transparency helps build trust with consumers because they can easily tell what’s a good deal and what’s not. They don’t have to dig through pages and pages of search results to compare what type of deal they’re getting. For CarGurus dealers, this means you can start a conversation with the shopper right away, without having to prove or explain the value of your car.
More trust and control leads to more sales for CarGurus dealers
Today, more than ever, trust and transparency are central to the car shopper’s journey. And while the entire shopping experience on CarGurus is based on these two principles, CarGurus dealers have control over how they maximize their success on our platform. It’s this unique balance between the shopper and the dealer that CarGurus offers that drives dealers like Scott Davidson, Founder of Stop 23 Auto Sales, to partner with CarGurus.
For example, the Dealer Pricing Tool helps dealers with a Premium Listings Package competitively price their vehicles. By using the Pricing Tool, dealers can see how even a small price drop can improve a listing’s page ranking and deal rating and increase clicks from shoppers. It can also do the opposite—show you where a small price increase can increase your dealership’s profits, without affecting the visibility of that vehicle.
Ultimately, CarGurus helps bridge the gap between dealers and consumers by providing transparent information on the value of a car, easy-to-understand search result pages, and unbiased dealership reviews. When dealers use CarGurus’ technology to increase transparency, they’re putting consumers first, which helps build trust and ultimately helps boost sales.
Ready to unlock the power of the CarGurus platform? Call (855) 232-0708 or visit ca.cargurus.com/signup/whatsetsCGapart.