automotive

Consumers Use Digital Pricing Tools For More Than Pricing

For practical purposes, literally, automakers’ consumer-facing Web sites are all about build-and-price. But OEM sites are also a proxy for the brand, and the tools OEM's use to get consumers a closer look and a more or less real price, also gets them closer to dealerships, if the sites work well, that is. 

J.D. Power and Associates' new Manufacturer Website Evaluation Study, a semiannual study in its 16th year, looks at usefulness of sites during the new-vehicle shopping process based on information and content, appearance, navigation and speed. 

It makes a big difference. The study finds that among new-vehicle shoppers who are “delighted” with their OEM Web site experience, 64% said they are more likely to test-drive a vehicle after visiting the manufacturer’s site, compared with only 20% of those who are disappointed. 

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Results of the Fall 2014 study, based on responses from more than 9,800 new-vehicle shoppers, show that to field a successful site automakers need to understand that consumers do more than build-and-price with build-and-price tools. Fifty-nine percent of respondents to Power's poll said they use the tools to find a vehicle in their dealer area; half said they use it to research vehicle information; and just slightly fewer said they use it to research price-related information.  

Arianne Walker, senior director, automotive media & marketing solutions at J.D. Power, tells Marketing Daily that the key to a strong pricing and customizing page is easy access to get to those tools. "Then, once there the things that have impact are the interior images, and 360-degree view. These kinds of images are becoming more and more important, and there is more of an expectation among consumers that they will be accessible." She adds that it these are also interactive tools to get shoppers engaged in the process, and to educate them on all of the vehicle's features and why they matter.

"I think the big message there is that — and this is true not just for build and price — to make sure shoppers can get to content that shows them why they should be buying that vehicle, not just build and price but also show value," she says. "It's about explaining features to help them understand why they should pay extra for it." They are already interested in that brand and model, she notes, so it's about providing them good details and information. "You should have image or video [content] within build and price and a really good description to explain why the feature is important." 

About 35% said they use bottom-funnel tools to determine whether a vehicle fits in their budget; and 29% said they use it to build "an ideal vehicle with every feature and accessory they desire." More premium-vehicle shoppers (33%) said they are more likely to use the build and price tool to build their ideal vehicle than are non-premium shoppers (26%). Shoppers of mass-market vehicles said they are more likely to use the tool for budget reasons.

Jeep leads the rankings, based on a 1,000-point scale, and in which the difference in score between adjacent brands is small. After Jeep comes Infiniti, Jaguar, Cadillac, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Smart, Mini, Acura, and Honda, with almost all of those brands separated by a single point (except for the five-point difference between Honda and Land Rover. Below the median, 795, are Lexus Audi, Chevrolet, Scion, Nissan, Mazda, Toyota Kia, Mitsubishi and Subaru. The final five are Ram Volkswagen, Chrysler, Dodge and Volvo in the caboose.

Walker says not one of the automakers on the list has a bad score, which would be well below 700. She says what Jeep does really well is "provide lots of off opportunity for engagement with the brand on model pages. You can get details and content, then allow consumers to dig into the areas of most interest easily as they go through. And Jeep does a good job of doing storytelling. They highlight the things that ought to be important and then a shopper can dig deeper."

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