THE IMPORTANCE OF PERSONALIZATION IN THE DIGITAL DEALERSHIP

One of the many reasons today’s leading consumer sites have become so successful is the creation of a personalized customer experience. Every purchase, every search, every click, is logged into their systems and into your profile. The first time you use a site like Netflix or Pandora, it’s a blank slate. But every move you make leads to recommendations the next time you visit the site, leading to a personalized service and anticipation of products built up over time that presents options without you even having to ask.

Groundbreaking when it happened, it’s now expected for any and all consumer-facing sites online. And like other technological advances, the auto industry is finally joining the party now. More importantly, Cox Automotive’s media solutions brands have collaborated so that the personalized customer experience is integrated across all websites and pages.

Dealer.com’s Website Experience Optimization is a breakthrough for dealership websites. The product saves dealers time and money by deploying inventory and fixed ops marketing content, specials, and assets automatically on the site. This all happens in a consumer-friendly shopping experience that personalizes the content for car buyers.

With the integration of Cox Automotive company websites Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book, the Dealer.com’s technology automatically delivers curated inventory for each individual shopper based on their online shopping behavior. The technology is so advanced that this happens even on the customer’s first visit to the website.

So for example, if a shopper is browsing SUVs on Autotrader and looking for trade values on Kelley Blue Book, those searches and data are merged together into a dealer’s digital showroom so that the customer only sees the most relevant vehicles and offers when they visit your dealership’s site. The integration between Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book, and the dealer website, helps deliver a more relevant consumer experience and accelerates the path to purchase. Experience Optimization generally results in click through rates two to two and a half times higher on personalized content than on non-personalized content.1

The Dealer.com Website Experience Optimization technology will be featured at the Driving Sales Executive Summit Innovation Cup Product Showcase in Las Vegas, October 22-24, 2017.

Using this type of technology is essential for today’s dealer in today’s car-buying environment. Bringing today’s personalized experience to car-buying may not be revolutionary, but it is an essential asset that all dealers need to remain competitive.

1 Dealer.com Homepage Personalization Test, August 2017

Bob George is Senior Director of Website & Platform Products at Dealer.com.