We reveal the details of the Auto Trader Highly Rated 2021 programme.

Many consumers continue to value physical forecourt experiences from local retailers, yet the pandemic and the emergence of online only players is disrupting the retail landscape. It has accelerated consumer preferences towards transacting online and many have already adapted by establishing new online journeys.

From proactive showroom visitors, to digital adopters. If you want to appeal to all buyer types, you need to apply the five principles of a digital-first approach:

With forecourts reopening this week, we’re already seeing feedback from retailers that replenishing stock is becoming a challenge. This is likely to be the impact of sales performance returning to near-normal levels, overlaid by some retailers gearing up for a return to the market. We provide 3 top tips to establish a winning sourcing strategy in a busy marketplace.

Performance Rating helps you quickly understand how well your adverts are performing vs competing adverts and know whether your adverts are winning buyers’ attention. Plus we’ve improved how you can track performance improvements over time.

As forecourts reopen, we look at reasons to be optimistic for April and practical advice for retailers who want to stay with the industry as it moves forward beyond the pandemic.

As we pass 1 year since the first national lockdown, our CEO Nathan Coe reflects on how the automotive industry has risen to meet the challenges presented by the pandemic and how it has changed our industry forever.

Find out how we’re ramping up our marketing activity as forecourts reopen to bring more buyers to your adverts and bring buyers waiting for forecourts to reopen back into market. Plus we take a look at our latest campaign results and how it has driven more buyers to your adverts

What should motorhome and caravan retailers be focusing on over the coming weeks to ensure they’re ready for buyers? We spoke to Jo Chubb from the National Caravan Council (NCC) for their thoughts on how dealers should prepare.

How is Auto Trader bringing women to the forefront of its business and what can be done to challenge sexism in the workplace?

These are just some of the questions that were asked to our panel of experts on our International Women’s Day and you can find out what they had to say in our latest blog.

We recently covered our plans to show admin fees on Auto Trader adverts on our webinar on 3rd March. We received lots of questions from our retailer partners on what does or does not count as an admin fee. Ben Smith, product lead for our admin fees work answers your questions.

We caught up with Andreas Welham, Head of Remarketing and Residual Values at Mazda UK to find out how they’ve been implementing our new Retailer Performance Masterclasses (RPM) throughout their network.

In Q1 2021 we’ve seen the market contract to around 70-80% of normal sales volumes¹. Yet many retailers have reported strong performance with some even suggesting February was a record month, despite the restrictions. We explore how these customers have grown their share of sales in a competitive market.

In a time when physical contact must be limited for the foreseeable future, handling part-exchanges is understandably an obstacle to selling safely and efficiently. Discover how a simple solution can help you manage your part-ex process remotely now, and more effectively after reopening.

Test drives. Are they legal under the current restrictions? With continued speculation and conflicting information, we explore how retailers are finding success without them in today’s market.

Our CEO Nathan Coe shares an update in light of the government’s announced roadmap out of the current lockdown restrictions.

In this blog post we outline the next steps in our journey to create full price transparency by changing how we deal with admin fees on Auto Trader.

Find out our latest hints and tips on how you can make sure buyers stay engaged with your advert, increasing the likelihood that their search turns into a sale.

We take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly of vehicle descriptions and consider what consumers need to know, what isn’t necessary and what can actually be detrimental to your chances of selling a vehicle.