• by Tanya Gazdik , March 2, 2017

Ford, Mercedes, and Toyota, which rank high in customer loyalty, are the some of the least cross-shopped brands by proportion of those shoppers seen in other dealer showrooms, according to a study.

Dodge and Jeep are the most cross-shopped auto brands by sheer volume across the U.S, and Ford, Toyota, and Chevrolet shoppers are the least likely to visit other auto dealerships when shopping for a car.

Pasadena, California-based UberMedia analyzed two years of mobile location visitation data from more than 18,000 auto dealerships to reveal the most frequently cross-shopped car brands, the most common cross-shopped brand combinations and the cities with the most cross-shopping. The study, “UberMedia Data Insights on the Auto Purchasing Journey,” reveals the impact of real-world cross-shopping behavior and the value that multiple dealership visits still have on the auto purchasing journey.

The study, “UberMedia Data Insights on the Auto Purchasing Journey,” reveals the impact of real-world cross-shopping behavior and the value that multiple dealership visits still have on the auto purchasing journey.

Auto marketers need fresh insights into consumer cross-shopping behavior, says Gladys Kong, UberMedia CEO. 

“The assertion that the average buyer only visits 1.6 dealerships during the car-buying process is narrow and too easily misinterpreted,” Kong tells Marketing Daily. “This data point has created limited thinking around how consumers actually use mobile in their path to purchase. Our data insights have attempted to surface new strategic thinking for auto brands and manufacturers in terms of understanding true consumer foot-traffic patterns.”

More than half of auto shoppers visit multiple dealerships before making a purchase. Some research sources claim that 41% of new car buyers visit one dealership, but 59% visit an average of up to five. The typical person considers 2.4 vehicles on average.

Manufacturers that are visited by the most shoppers (who were also seen at other brand dealerships) tend to be mass-market brands that in many cases ladder up to the top-ranked manufacturers.

Luxury brands experience less cross-shopping than mass-market brands, indicating that the super-affluent tend to go to only one dealership before making a purchase. Cross-shopping is more common in urban areas where there are more brands and dealerships to choose from.

Millennials see the value in dealership visits, with a significant percentage believing that showroom access and their relationship with dealers strongly influence their purchasing decisions.