Cobalt The Guide To The Modern Car Shopper- ebook Dec 4, 2012

A Guide
to the Modern
Car-Shopper Journey
Connecting the Dots from their Screens to your Lots

eBook: The Modern Car-Shopper Journey

Contents
04

07

The Four Stages
of Car-Shopping

13

Explore Real
Car-Shopper Journeys

24

The Big Ideas Behind the
Modern Consumer Journey

29

02

The Consumer Journey:
Adding it all up

In Conclusion


Science Sells Cars
The data we’re sharing represents
real shopping behavior as analyzed
by Cobalt data scientists.

Cobalt employs over

80

car-buying behavior analysts

03


The Consumer Journey:
Adding it all up
Until now, we’ve measured the car-shopper journey in terms
of website metrics: visitors and visits, leads, and phone calls.
But these standalone metrics represent mere snapshots in
time. It’s time to start viewing this journey in a more
complete way, by stitching together those snapshots to
produce a true continuous experience, a “movie” of the new
consumer journey.
This ebook will investigate real car-shopper journeys.
Throughout this book, we’ll show you a handful of these
shoppers—modern families, Gen Y’ers, and even truck
drivers—unique behavioral segments you’ll ultimately want
to advertise to in a targeted way.
04


So, how do we have all of this insight into
the consumer’s car buying digital journey?
There isn’t another company on the planet that has as much
online car shopping data as we do.

COBALT DATA: A PEEK BEHIND THE CURTAIN

1.3

Every day our network sees

Each week, we track

5

million leads.

million visits to our website properties.

1

Every month, over
billion online ads are served to local
shoppers and tracked in our advertising systems.

All resulting in

1/2

billion inventory searches per year.

Want More?
See Real-Time Car Shopper Search Activity in Action
05


So, what does this all mean?

All of this tells us a lot about shopper
behavior. It tells us how they engage
with online information. It tells us what
they respond to, or don’t. We know
what vehicles they are interested in, and
what actions they take as they get closer
to buying. And most importantly for
dealers, we now know unequivocally how
to deliver shoppers from their screen to
your lots.

This information also allows Cobalt to
paint an amazing picture of the journey
that each individual shopper takes. Here’s
a high-level view, and then we’ll break
down three individual journeys.

This data is the petri dish from which
these three modern consumer personas
were extracted. We saw numerous
patterns across all buyers, and these
three composite personas represent
of the more common patterns
we observed.

06

Disclaimer: The Cobalt Business Intelligence team
collects activities, not identities. No personally
identifiable information is collected in our
business intelligence.


The Four Stages
of Car-Shopping
During the average car-shopping journey, most consumers
spend 19 hours shopping (60% of it online1). While every
shopper’s journey is unique, they experience four phases…

18.2

sources2 of
information influence the
decisions shoppers make
along the way.
Google / Shopper Sciences, June, 2011

1

07

RL Polk / AutoTrader Auto Buying Study, 2011

2



1. Inspiration:

This is what makes someone aware of your brand and
ultimately inspires them to consider it. They’re not in-market
yet; but they are being influenced by advertising and social
media as they go about their daily lives.
Maybe it was their friend who drove them to the
mountain to go skiing in their brand new 4 wheel drive.
Maybe it was an ad during the holidays
Maybe it was a Super Bowl TV commercial

New car buyers typically start the shopping process with 2-4
models3 in mind. Over 60% start with a focus on one model
but may expand their consideration set as they discover
alternatives.4 They are likely inspired to consider these brands
because of national advertising and social influences.

3
4

08

2010 CapGemini / Cars.com study


2. Discovery:

This is where shoppers begin to research brands in their initial
consideration set. They are pulling for information in this
phase. Our Cobalt Business Intelligence reveals 75% of
car-shoppers visit manufacturer websites, and most of those
shoppers visit the OEM website and the dealer website in the
same thirty minutes.5
They also visit 3rd party websites for model reviews and
comparison shopping, as well as multiple dealer websites to
explore inventory and pricing (61% search inventory on dealer
websites6). Shoppers are more aware of their options than
ever before, and they’re likely to ADD more brands to their
consideration set before whittling it back down.

75

%

of car-shoppers visit
manufacturer websites, and most
of those shoppers visit the OEM
website and the dealer website in
the same thirty minutes.5
Cobalt Business Intelligence

5

09


6



Discovery Cont’d:
According to Google research, 50% of shoppers select a dealer
during this phase of the journey. They’re most likely to engage
with the dealer who makes frequent impressions through
online advertising and positive consumer reviews.
Did you know that 7 of the top 8 influences in the Discovery
phase occur online?7

1
2

Searched online, used search engine
Searched the inventory of a dealership

71%

61%

3

Sought information from an automobile brand/manufacturer website

59%

4

Comparison shopped automobiles online

59%

5

Sought information from a dealership website

56%

6

Talked with friends / family about automobiles

56%

7
8

Requested a quote on an automobile
Searched online for a dealership

53%

49%

These digital influences have more impact than TV, newspapers
and radio. When it comes to influencing the purchase decision,
online influences are second only to the experience consumers
have in the dealership8.
7

10


8



3. Engagement:
This is when a shopper is done researching and initiates contact.
Congratulations, you are officially in their consideration set.

The consumer makes contact with you, virtually, by phone,
email, and/or by visiting your dealership.

Remember that shoppers are getting more and more selfsufficient due to new technology and platforms (smart
phones, tablets, social media).

Most never call or email you; 69% first contact you when they
walk on your lot.9

If they have a positive experience, they purchase a vehicle.

69

%

of shoppers first
contact you when they walk
on your lot.9
9

AutoTrader Auto Buying Study, 2011

11

RL Polk / AutoTrader Auto Buying Study, 2011


4. Ownership:

They accessorize their new vehicles and return for
maintenance. Their ownership experience influences
someone else’s “discovery”; as owners, they write
reviews and influence their social circles.

12

Without further ado, let’s take a look at our first journey:


Explore Real
Car-Shopper Journeys

Remarketed
customers are

3x
& 4x

more likely
to click on your ad
more
likely

to convert than
new customers

13


Shopper #1

Miss Pop Culture is an Internet
savvy shopper.
She embarked on a 36 day shopping
journey, about half the average
length. She cared deeply about color,
features, trim and style of the cars.
She looked at:
5 different models.
8 different dealers—NOT of the same
make, but of competing brands.
Over her journey, she looked at a
whopping 127 different VINS.
At the end of her journey she
bought a car.

14

MISS POP CULTURE

Like a large majority of shoppers,
Miss Pop Culture never filled out a
lead form on a dealer website.

For more information about this journey, visit:
www.cobalt.com/consumerjourney


She looked at these different models. The model she bought
was model E. She spent 40 minutes on this single VIN.
You can tell based on these patterns where she was leaning.
A digitally savvy dealer will show her targeted ads based on
the models she’s looking at.

JAN

FEB
40 Minutes
on this Day

36 DAYS
Model A

Model B

Model C

Model D

Model E

Each color represents a different car model searched over the span of 36 days.
The size of the bubble represents the amount of time Miss Pop Culture spent researching that particular VIN.

Why didn’t she buy the light blue model—maybe it wasn’t the right
segment of vehicle (ie SUV vs sedan). Maybe it was the way the dealer
was or was not advertising to her. We can show that the dealer with
model E on the lot was keeping ads in front of Ms. Pop Culture with
the right message.

15


Key Insight #1:
Get Vain about VINs.

Make connections between your dealership and the
shopper. Job 1 is making your inventory content compelling
and engaging. VIN views, time-on-VIN and Hours & Directions
page views are your best predictors of future sales, more so
than total visitor traffic or other traditional web measures.
Best Practices: Drive emotional attachment! Add as much
detail to your inventory pages as you can to create a rich
experience and drive deep engagement.

16

Let’s take a look at our second journey:


Shopper #2

Mr. Big Wheels is a brand buyer.
He shopped for 45 days
Looked at 2 models, both of the
same brand.
He consistently went back and forth
between the brand website and
multiple dealer websites.
At the end of his journey he
bought a car.
MR BIG WHEELS

In one day Mr. Big Wheels shopped
20 different dealers. Although he
was clearly loyal to the brand, he
shopped around.

17



Across the board, we found that 75% of shoppers who go to
both a brand and dealer website do so within the same day—
most do that within the same 30 minutes.

20 dealers
shopped in
ONE DAY.

45 DAYS
Each color represents a different dealer’s website visited over the span of 45 days.

75

%
of Shoppers who go

to both a brand and dealer
website do so within the same
day—most do that within the
same 30 minutes.

18


Key Insight #2:
You are One with the Manufacturer

Still think shoppers are loyal to you? All of these shoppers
shopped a minimum of 8 dealers, and Mr. Big Wheels
shopped 20 in a single day. Online retail makes ruthless
comparison shopping a way of life—it takes less than a
minute to “drive” from dealership to dealership.
Best Practices: Have a strong “Why My Dealership” message
on your dealer website. Retargeting is key to keep your
dealership top-of-mind.

“

Online retail makes
ruthless comparison
shopping a way of life.

”

19


Key Insight #3:
Think About the Consumer

Consumers experience the dealer website as an extension
of the manufacturer website, offering complementary
information they need to make a purchase decision.
To maximize shopper confidence and purchase intent,
consistency between manufacturer and dealer website is
critical. Discordant style, models, or incentives will confuse
shoppers and lower conversion.
Still think ALL you need to do is align with your OEM?
Not true. Mr. Big Wheels shopped a single brand and 20
dealership websites. As one of our more eloquent data
scientists put it, “He knows what team he plays for, but
he’ll go home with anyone.”
Translation: Brand alignment just gets you
in the consideration set, then it’s all about your
competitive advantages.
Best Practices: Balance OEM alignment with a strong
“Why Me?” Message.

20

Let’s take a look at our final journey:


Shopper #3

Throughout The Modern Family’s
90-day journey, we saw that they
engaged with:
8 different dealership websites.
Every single day throughout the 90
day journey they had interaction
with a dealership—via website visits,
inventory searches, digital ads, etc.
They were exposed to digital ads 329
different times.
At the end of their journey they
bought a car.

THE MODERN FAMILY

The dealership that this shopper
bought from was one who began
interacting with the family from the
beginning of their 90 day journey
and kept the line tight.

21



You can see in the graph below that the dealer The Modern
Family purchased from began building an online relationship
early on in the journey with advertising and then kept the
line tight through every phase of the purchase process with
continuous online advertising.

Exposed to
329 different
dealer ads

90 DAYS
Each color represents a different dealer’s online ad exposure over the span of 90 days.

22


Key Insight #4:
The Ever-Present Bird gets the Worm

Still think you can swoop in at the low funnel and
capture the sale? Our data shows that consumers buy from
the dealer who messages them first and most frequently.
Savvy dealers are building a relationship with the shopper
long before they call or walk in your store.
Best Practices: Start your digital marketing efforts early
and be present throughout the entire journey.

“

Consumers buy
from the dealer who
messages them first
and most frequently.

”

23


The Big Ideas
Behind The Modern
Consumer Journey
While there is plenty of tactical strategy to be
gleaned from these three individual personas,
there are also some high-level insights we
can conclude about how the overall nature of
modern car-shopping has changed.

24

Here are just a few top-level takeaways:


The Modern Car-Shopper Journey
is a Road Trip, not a Commute
As we’ve seen from these paths to purchase, to call the
modern car-shopper journey non-linear would be an
understatement. Rather, today’s car shopping journey
is dynamic, digital, and consumer-driven.
To put this in context, it’s helpful to contrast the difference
between a commute and a road trip. Rather than a speedy
journey from point A to point B, the modern car-buyer
journey is self-paced, meandering, and riddled with sensory
distractions. From inspiration to destination, online research
is the steady fuel throughout the journey.

25


Cont’d
Modern car shoppers are digital tourists who, like most
travelers, start out their “automotive research road trip”
armed with a clear plan, which inevitably falls apart.
The path becomes riddled with wrong turns, backtracking,
scenic distractions, and breaks to stretch your legs.
The digital journey is no different: Modern car-shoppers
may make a reviews “pitstop”, then travel to the dealer
website, then backtrack to reviews, and so on. As a dealer,
your goal is to put enough signage on the highway to keep
drawing shoppers down the path to purchase—your path.

26


There is no Virtual

There are no “virtual” shoppers. There are just shoppers.
Our research shows that 64% of your website visitors are likely
to purchase a vehicle within 60 days.9 Online and offline exist
in one single experience, which is why we talk so much about
connecting the dots from screens to lots.

64%

DAYS

60
9

27



It’s an Online World

While the in-store experience remains critical, the sheer
volume of online car-shopping activity is staggering. We
know from Google’s ZMOT playbook that seven of the eight
automotive buying influences are online, and our shopper
journeys underscore this in mind-blowing ways:

MISS POP CULTURE alone completed

THE MODERN FAMILY viewed

MR BIG WHEELS shopped

329

20

249

Online activities.

dealership ads and interacted Online everyday for 90 days.

dealership websites in a single day.

We know what you’re thinking: don’t these people have lives?
The answer to that is debatable, but we can tell you these
in-market shoppers are voracious for automotive shopping
information, so it’s more important than ever to shine online.

28


In Conclusion:
Know what makes them TICK
to know what makes them CLICK
A true understanding of digital car-buying behavior is now
available, you as dealers have a responsibility to immerse
yourselves in understanding these journeys.
Do you speak digital?
Become fluent in online buying behavior for more car sales.

29

Cobalt The Guide To The Modern Car Shopper- ebook Dec 4, 2012

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Cobalt The Guide To The Modern Car Shopper- ebook Dec 4, 2012