New Research Shows Consumers Seek Vehicle Details From Web Sites

CINCINNATI, March 11 -- If you think the number one thing shoppers are looking for from an automobile dealership Web site is the price of a car, think again. Vehicle options-such as whether a new car has heated seats or a leather-wrapped steering wheel-rate as the most important feature that consumers want to see on a dealer's Web site, according to new research released by Friedman-Swift Associates, The Cobalt Group and the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA). Price information, including dealer invoice price comparisons, ranks second.

``For the first time, shoppers seem to be more focused on specific vehicle details than on price comparisons,'' said Judy George, Chief Operating Officer of Friedman-Swift Associates, a Cincinnati-based automotive market research firm. ``Nearly nine in ten new vehicle shoppers-88 percent-say it is very important to find vehicle options on a dealership Web site.''

This makes sense, as more consumers use automobile dealership Web sites to help them decide which car to buy and where to buy it. More than two-thirds of shoppers-71 percent-say it is also very important for a dealership to have searchable inventory on the first page of its site.

``Dealers who listen to consumers and develop a process for posting detailed and accurate searchable inventory listings, including photos, on their Web sites will reap higher return on investment for their dealership,'' said Kevin Root, vice president of Cobalt's Dealer Advisory Services training and consulting division. ``Additionally, to ensure maximum exposure and rapid turn for dealer inventory, we recommend that dealers post details about all new and used vehicles on their Web sites as soon as the cars arrive on the lot.''

The research also showed a strong preference among shoppers to locate a vehicle from a consumer portal like NADA's DriversSeat and Cobalt's DealerNet. Two-thirds-67 percent-of new car shoppers and 73 percent of used car shoppers said they would be very likely to use portals like DriversSeat and DealerNet to help them find the vehicle they want. The research was based on interviews with 655 online car shoppers who visited the DealerNet.com or DriversSeat.com car shopping sites. The study has a margin of error of +/-3.8 percent. Nearly half-49 percent-of the shoppers in this study plan to buy a car in the next two months. More details about the research can be found at www.friedmanswift.com .