Photo Backgrounding Software Enables Dealers to Stand Out from the Crowd

Exton, Pa., February 26, 2018 – Amid a tightening market with fierce competition, automotive dealers have the potential to generate more customer engagement by optimizing photos of their online vehicle inventory. That is one of the key findings from new Cox Automotive research, which found that dealers benefitted from a 3 percent to 5 percent increase in views of vehicle detail pages (VDPs) when using backgrounded photos as compared to non-backgrounded photos.

The research, which looked at more than 1,600 Autotrader.com listings in the month of September 2017, suggests dealers gain an advantage from utilizing photo backgrounding software, which provides their online listings with a polished look while reinforcing dealership branding.

“When you take an unbelievable photo with a clean background, the car gets 100 percent of the online car shopper’s focus,” said Jason House, Executive General Manager of House Chevrolet Buick Cadillac in Owatonna, Minnesota.  “Photo Backgrounding separates my inventory from the competition and gives me a unique advantage in my market.  The best way to get a consumer to click on my vehicle is to show them clean photos with enhanced backgrounding!”

Dealers looking to put their best photos forward should consider utilizing Photo Backgrounding powered by HomeNet, which lets dealers or lot service providers automatically transpose existing photos on a pre-created background and then syndicate the optimized image to third party advertising sites. The Photo Backgrounding tool provides dealers with a wide range of backgrounding options, with the ability to choose from 17 standard backgrounds options and add image overlays that match dealership branding. 

“It’s no secret that attractive photos catch shoppers’ eyes, and that you only have a few seconds to make the right impression with a potential customer,” said Russ Daniels, Senior Manager of Product Marketing, HomeNet. “Dealers are always looking to reduce time to market while optimizing the quality of their online listings, and our solution enables them to significantly streamline the inventory merchandising process by removing the need to individually stage vehicles for the perfect shot.”

To learn more about Photo Backgrounding best practices and how it can drive customer engagement, visit www.homenetauto.com.

About Cox Automotive

Cox Automotive Inc. is transforming the way the world buys, sells and owns cars with industry-leading digital marketing, financial, retail and wholesale solutions for consumers, dealers, manufacturers and the overall automotive ecosystem worldwide. Committed to open choice and dedicated to strong partnerships, the Cox Automotive family includes Autotrader®, Dealer.com®, Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, vAuto®, Xtime® and a host of other brands. The global company has 34,000 team members in more than 200 locations and is partner to more than 40,000 auto dealers, as well as most major automobile manufacturers, while engaging U.S. consumer car buyers with the most recognized media brands in the industry. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., an Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion and approximately 60,000 employees. Cox Enterprises’ other major operating subsidiaries include Cox Communications and Cox Media Group. For more information about Cox Automotive, visit www.coxautoinc.com.

About HomeNet

HomeNet Automotive gets inventory out of your systems and in front of online shoppers.

Today’s car shoppers are researching, locating and evaluating cars online before they ever set foot in a physical dealership. Yet, dealers struggle to ensure inventory is consistently updated and distributed to all online destinations with speed, accuracy and quality.

At HomeNet, we help dealers and industry partners merchandise and distribute their inventory from one unified platform and seamlessly push this information to their own website and all their third-party advertising sources.

Based in Exton, PA, with offices across the U.S., HomeNet is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cox Automotive.

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Americans Don’t Want to Talk to Robots but Welcome Chatbots That Make the Customer Support Experience More Efficient

SAN FRANCISCO—November 16, 2017—New data released today from Helpshift, the company revolutionizing the customer support industry through AI-powered customer experiences, reveals how Americans are feeling about the state of customer service in the U.S. and how they’d like chatbots to help make things better.

The survey revealed that, while they don’t like having to deal with robots over the phone when calling customer support centers or being forced to have extended interactions with chatbots, Americans are enthusiastic about interacting with chatbots if they help resolve their support issue more efficiently.

Americans dread contacting customer support

Most Americans (52 percent) gave customer service in the U.S. a “C” grade or lower, and almost all (94 percent) said that they dread contacting customer support.

When asked to pick the single thing they most dread, they said:

1. Difficulties communicating with agents in offshore call centers – 17 percent
2. Long wait and hold times – 16 percent
3. Being transferred around and having to repeat the problem over and over – 15 percent
4. Never-ending automated self-service menus – 12 percent
5. Being forced to interact with robots on the phone  – 8 percent

When asked what industry has the worst customer service, almost a full third (32 percent) of Americans agreed that it is telecoms (phone, internet and cable companies). This was followed by the retail (13 percent), insurance (9 percent) and airline (7 percent) industries.

Chatbots to the rescue?

Most Americans have regular interactions with chatbots—top reasons include using customer service (49 percent),  apps like Facebook messenger and WeChat (33 percent), and productivity tools like digital assistants (19 percent)—and have generally positive feelings about them. This is particularly true of Millennials, about a quarter of whom (24 percent) feel chatbots are definitely making things better.

Looking at the population as a whole, about one in five Americans (19 percent) say chatbots are definitely making things better, while another 40 percent say chatbots are helpful but aren’t living up to their full potential.

When we love chatbots

More than half (55 percent) of all Americans—and 65 percent of Millennials—want chatbots involved in the customer service process, particularly if chatbots: 

●       Make the entire customer service process more efficient – 75 percent

●       Reduce the time it takes to get an agent on the phone – 73 percent

●       Reduce the time it takes to resolve the issue – 71 percent

●       Help the problem be resolved over instant chat without having to make a call or email customer support – 70 percent

●       Reduce the time it takes to explain the problem to an agent – 67 percent

Americans also appreciate that chatbots are available 24/7 (49 percent), and many even prefer to deal with chatbots instead of people in certain cases—for example, if they need something quickly (18 percent) or the answer to a simple problem (18 percent).

"Seeing as the vast majority of Americans dread contacting customer support, there's a huge opportunity here for chatbots to fill the void and improve the customer support experience for consumers—and agents,” said Linda Crawford, CEO of Helpshift. “The message is clear: Americans value efficiency above all else when seeking customer support. If chatbots can make the support experience more efficient, they are glad to have them involved in the process. Brands that want to excel in customer experience should start leveraging platforms that facilitate the intersection of humans and bots.”

Survey Methodology

The survey was conducted online within the United States by Propeller Insights on behalf of Helpshift October 24-29, 2017, among 2,013 adults 18+. The results were weighted to the U.S. census for age, gender, region and income.

About Helpshift 

Helpshift bridges the disconnect between conventional customer service channels like email and phone support and a growing consumer base that does more on mobile phones and has a strong preference for messaging as the primary mode of communication. Through Helpshift’s streamlined support system, companies can resolve issues more efficiently, boosting customer satisfaction in the process. Companies such as Viacom, Virgin Media, Microsoft, Western Union and Flipboard and hundreds of other leading brands use the Helpshift platform to provide messaging-first customer support. Helpshift is installed on two billion devices worldwide and serves more than 600 million active consumers monthly. To learn more about Helpshift, visit https://www.helpshift.com/ and follow @helpshift on Twitter.

ATLANTA, October 16, 2017 – Car shopping has come a long way over the last 20 years, from the days of fliers and circulars, to today’s connected experience seamlessly blending the online to in-store shopping journey. As the first nationwide online car shopping site, Autotrader has been at the forefront of digital automotive retail innovation since it was established in 1997.



“Autotrader invented online car shopping and constantly strives to re-imagine the category,” said Brian Geitner, president of Cox Automotive Media Solutions. “The transformation of our brand and the car shopping experience go hand-in-hand, and we’ll continue to adapt and enhance Autotrader as consumer behaviors and appetites change.”

Autotrader’s beginning coincides with the rise of the Internet era and its impact on how consumers received information. Paper-based vehicle listings were steadily eclipsed by a more convenient and up-to-date online inventory experience for both the buyer and the seller. Video and editorial content, along with user-generated reviews and the introduction of Autotrader’s mobile app soon followed, helping better educate consumers looking to find and buy their next car.

“We’ve always tried to stay ahead of the curve”, said Chuck Nasiadka, Director of Pre-Owned Operations, Baglier Automotive in Butler, Pennsylvania. “We went online with Autotrader using a laptop and dial up service somewhere between 2000 and 2001. I’ve placed my faith in the fact they were there first, they have the most knowledge in the space and shoppers still mention Autotrader the most.”

Fulfilling its mission to be the leading resource of automotive consumer insights, Autotrader unveiled its annual Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey study in 2016, designed to inform dealers on consumer car-shopping behavior and preferences. The study also provides perspective on the overall perception of the dealer experience and the importance of having a best-in-class online presence.

Over the last 20 years, Autotrader has hosted more than 2 billion car shoppers and featured over 350 million vehicle listings on Autotrader.com.  The 10 Most-Searched Cars on Autotrader include:

1. Ford F-Series
2. Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra
3. Jeep Wrangler
4. RAM 1500/2500
5. Chevrolet Camaro
6. Toyota Tacoma
7. Ford Mustang
8. Jeep Grand Cherokee
9. Chevrolet Tahoe
10. Toyota Tundra

Note: Based on search history on Autotrader from July 2009 to July 2017.

According to Autodata Corp., three of the five most searched cars on Autotrader also have been top sellers in the U.S. – Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado and Ram 1500.

For more information and news from Autotrader, view our What A Ride Anniversary video, or visit www.autotrader.com, or follow us on Twitter (@autotrader), Instagram (@autotrader_com), Facebook (Autotrader) and Snapchat (Autotrader_com).

About Autotrader
Autotrader connects with more actual car buyers than any other third-party listing site, with the most engaged audience of in-market shoppers. As the foremost authority on automotive consumer insights and expert in online and mobile marketing, Autotrader makes the car shopping experience easy and fun for today's empowered consumer looking to find or sell the perfect new, used or Certified Pre-Owned car. Using technology, shopper insights and local market guidance, Autotrader's comprehensive marketing solutions guide dealers to personalized digital marketing strategies that grow brand, drive traffic and connect the online and in-store shopping experience.

Autotrader is a Cox Automotive™ brand. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. For more information, please visit http://press.autotrader.com.

About Cox Automotive
Cox Automotive Inc. is transforming the way the world buys, sells and owns cars with industry-leading digital marketing, financial, retail and wholesale solutions for consumers, dealers, manufacturers and the overall automotive ecosystem worldwide. Committed to open choice and dedicated to strong partnerships, the Cox Automotive family includes Autotrader®, Dealer.com®, Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, vAuto®, Xtime® and a host of other brands. The global company has 32,000-plus team members in more than 200 locations and is partner to more than 40,000 auto dealers, as well as most major automobile manufacturers, while engaging U.S. consumer car buyers with the most recognized media brands in the industry. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., an Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion and approximately 60,000 employees. Cox Enterprises’ other major operating subsidiaries include Cox Communications and Cox Media Group. For more information about Cox Automotive, visit www.coxautoinc.com.

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