By David Toscano, Trade Content Editor, carsales.com.au
Online car shopping on carsales remains solid, with Australia’s #1 for cars registering growth across key audience and engagement metrics in the back half of April.
Between April 17 – 23, sessions grew 9% to 5.619m compared to the previous week, while searches (65.8m) and views (14.15M) also grew 6% and 7% respectively.¹
Editorial reads (526,946) also grew 3% compared to the previous week.¹
“Audience and engagement has been particularly strong over the last 10 days compared to the pre-Easter period. Sessions are now almost neck and neck with the same period in 2019,” explains Kellie Cordner, Chief Marketing Officer at carsales.
Cordner said the rise in key session, search and view metrics mirrors the auto purchase intent registered in our recent onsite survey.
“As Australia continues to flatten the COVID-19 curve and consumers begin to see light at the end of the tunnel, we believe we will see engagement and purchase intent continue their steady upwards trajectory,” she added.
More dealer support measures for May
On April 23, carsales announced more support measures for Australian dealers to help dealers sure up their cash flow in a challenging period.
For May only, the measures detailed in the announcement included:
– Waived fees for new car subscriptions and leads (excluding demo)
– 50% discount for all invoiced products, services and used/demo lead costs for the month of May under any contract or agreement in place as of 30 April 2020
– Additional products or services purchased for use in May (with the exception of Main Event and Ultimate Main Event bundles) will have a 50% discount applied
– Extension of May invoice terms
– Continued availability of carsales’ Employee Assistance Program
OVERVIEW OF DEALER SUPPORT MEASURES FOR MAY
“Protecting the interests of our dealer partners remains a key priority for us. This is why we introduced significant support measures in April and why we have announced more for May,” says Michael Holmes, Executive Director – Dealer.
“In addition to the extension of our financial dealer support measures, carsales continues to fast-track product innovation and provide industry insights and business tips during this period,” Holmes explained.
Some of this information was delivered during the first in a series of carsales webinars on April 23. Hosted by a panel of senior carsales team members, the webinar showcased key buyer behaviour insights and business tips to dealers and OEM partners, as well as other key automotive industry stakeholders.
“Feedback from the live event was extremely positive and the flexibility of the webinar format means that dealers that couldn’t attend, can watch a recording at their convenience. Future webinars will also showcase insights from both Australian and international markets.” says Holmes.
You can register for the webinars at csninvestor.wpengine.com/events. A link to April 23’s webinar is also available.
Holmes also confirmed that the carsales team is delivering daily insights across its csninvestor.wpengine.com, AutoGate and trade LinkedIn destinations.
“As trading conditions continue to evolve and we see more signs of buyer behaviour normalising, it’s important that dealers take the time to stay up to date with this content,” he says.
Holmes believes that the recent announcement by the FCAI that vehicle buyers can test drive prospective purchases could help fuel further improvement in consumer engagement on carsales and deliver more sales opportunities for dealers.
“Our recent onsite survey suggested COVID-19 related travel restrictions were the number one concern of car buyers. The FCAI’s announcement delivers more clarity for our consumers in terms of how they can engage with dealers, and vice versa,” Holmes adds.
“It’s a positive announcement and a step in the right direction,” he concludes.
Badges take off
There’s no doubt that Australian car dealers are going above and beyond to deliver hygienic and frictionless transactions in this unprecedented time.
Many are offering ‘virtual showroom’ services and championing these to Australian car buyers via the brand new badges feature on carsales. Badges is one of a number of new features rolled out to help dealers better connect with shoppers in this period.
Over 36,000 dealer listings now contain a badge.
“It’s great to see dealers increasingly digitise their sales processes with virtual showroom tools and taking the time to highlight these initiatives via the Badges feature” says Ryan Svaghi, Product and UX Director, at carsales.
“It’s a free enhancement that is resonating with consumers and will help deliver great customer satisfaction long after the COVID-19 lockdown period. We’re seeing great engagement with the feature on carsales, with shoppers taking the time to refine their search results by badge types,” Svaghi stated.
“More badges innovation will be available to dealers in the coming weeks,” promised Svaghi.
DEALER GUIDE TO ADDING BADGES TO PUBLISHED INVENTORY
New car improvement
The recovery continued in the new car arena, with view volumes on the march towards pre-Covid-19 levels. Between April 17-23, 60% of all makes on carsales saw an increase in view volume week-on-week.¹
Following last week’s strong results, Volkswagen continued to grow its momentum on site between April 17-23. The German make registered the greatest view volume increase on carsales, up 8% or 9000 views on the previous week.¹
Hyundai, Nissan and Mitsubishi also improved in excess of 8000 views compared to the previous week.¹
And the growth in views is converting into increased sales opportunities for dealers with 45% of all makes registering an increase in enquiry volume.¹
“Overall, premium, prestige and exotic brands on carsales weathered the initial COVID-19 storm well, growing their view share of new cars at the expense of more mainstream makes,” says Jeremy Moger, Head of Insights at carsales.
“Now, market confidence has noticeably rebounded. As more buyers re-enter the market, views of new cars from mainstream and aspirational mainstream makes is growing at a more rapid pace,” concluded Moger.
Source: 1. carsales internal data April 17-23 compared to April 10-16