The 4 most common questions you asked in this week’s webinar…
Webinar: Open discussion on the automotive industry amidst COVID-19
Almost 2,000 of you joined us live yesterday and many more watched on demand as we shared our latest update on how we will continue to support retailers and the industry through this challenging period. We’d like to thank you all for tuning in and the volume of questions we received has been overwhelming. We’re working hard to ensure answers to those questions are accessible online and, in some instances, we will ask your Account Manager to contact you to discuss your questions in more detail.
In summary the questions we received generally followed these four themes:
1. How will Auto Trader continue to support its retailers?
We received a high volume of questions and positive sentiment about how Auto Trader continues to support retailers and what we will do in an instance where the Government lock-down is extended beyond April. With various suggestions ranging from discounted rates to an extension of the free core advertising in April.
It’s still difficult to predict what will happen beyond this initial 3-week lock-down, but we are 100% committed to supporting our retailers and the wider automotive sector during these unprecedented times and we can assure you that the situation and our corresponding actions are constantly under review. As soon as we have an update, we’ll share it with you by email and add it to our new dedicated retailer support page here. If you didn’t receive the email update from our CEO, Nathan Coe recently, click here to read the email in full.
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2. How can retailers access Government support?
Mikes Jones, Chairman of ASE Global joined us on the webinar, and provided answers to lots of questions about how retailers can get access to Government support, especially surrounding furlough for employees.
In circumstances that were specific to individual retailers we will respond to your questions in the coming days either through Mike or your Account Manager. We will also provide a resource for frequently asked questions and this will be made available on our dedicated retailer support page. We were grateful for Mike joining us and we’re pleased to say that he’ll be back again for next weeks’ webinar, so please continue to ask us questions surrounding Government support which we’ll ask Mike to provide more insight into.
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3. What trends are Auto Trader seeing in the data?
Many of you were interested in our view of market performance, consumer behaviour trends and what will happen with retail valuations throughout this outbreak and when the market begins to recover.
Overall, across the main used vehicle platforms unique visits were down 37% on average*. Auto Trader performance is slightly stronger, down 32% by comparison. We are still seeing interest from consumers at this time with 4.6m - 6.9m daily advert views and over 9,000 leads generated each day last week. In terms of what consumers search for, volumes have remained relatively consistent across the board. It’s much more difficult to predict the impact on retail valuations, but pricing throughout this lock-down period and as the market begins to recover will have an impact. It’s possible that some retailers will look to discount vehicles in an attempt to accelerate cash flow and this could have an impact on retail valuations in the short term.
To support you further at this time we have brought forward the launch of our Market Insight tool to give you a better view of the market and to prepare you for any market shift. Richard Walker, Director of Data & Insight at Auto Trader will also be updating you live on our weekly webinar and we’ll be posting regular updates on our social channels.
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(Similar web Auto Category: Auto Trader, CarGurus, PistonHeads, Motors, Carwow, Cinch, HeyCar, Cazoo)
4. What can retailers be doing right now?
Over 250 of you asked how to make the best of the current situation, putting your business in the best position now ready for when the market begins to recover. This included several questions about selling vehicles remotely and home delivery services.
The Government guidance surrounding essential travel and home delivery was somewhat unclear following the announcement on 23 March. It’s not a step we would advise, and we would urge you to follow the Government guidance during this lock-down period. What should be the priority is safe practice and the well-being of both your employees and the general public. What we can advise is that retailers use this time to ensure their online showroom is up to the best possible standard.
Update your advert descriptions, ask your previous customers to leave reviews and if it’s safe to do so; re-photograph your stock and take videos or 360°imagery. If you can’t video your vehicles, consider doing a video of yourself to promote your business and the reasons why you’re best placed to help your customers. This will put you in the best position to keep enquiries coming in so that you build up a pipeline when the market does begin to recover. It’s also important for you to enable live chat, text and update any telephone numbers attached to your adverts to ensure that you can manage any enquiries during this period.
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We’re open and here to help
Nearly 200 of our retailer support colleagues are working from home and on hand to support you.
Simply contact your Account Manager on their usual contact number or call 0345 111 0002.