A new study suggests dealers avoid using overly forceful language on their websites and ensure they are optimized for smartphone users
4 hours ago
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The internet has transformed the car buying process, but even minor wording choices can cost dealers a sale.
According to Shift Digital’s Winning Strategies for Converting Shoppers to Buyers, dealers should list “no more than four ‘calls to action (CTA)’” on a webpage showing vehicle details. In fact, they say most shoppers are interested in three key pieces of information: price, payment and trade-in values.
Interestingly but unsurprisingly, using certain CTAs can turn off shoppers. In particular, the company found that saying “Check Availability” decreases the conversion rate by an average of 18 percent.
More: Car Shoppers’ Dissatisfaction With Buying Experience Continues To Increase
While that’s understandable, Shift Digital also found that using the word “Buy” in CTAs decreased the conversion rate by 23 percent. That’s a bit surprising, but dealers are encouraged to avoid “overly forceful language” and instead adopt “positive language that encourages shoppers to engage” with the dealership.
As Shift Digital’s head of advanced analytics, Dan Reynolds, explained, “The key is remembering the customers’ end goals and making those call-outs easily accessed to make an informed decision. For example, you want to start with ‘schedule a test drive’ vs. some term that uses ‘buy.’”
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Reynolds also noted the importance of mobile browsing by pointing out, “We all live and breathe seemingly through our mobile phones. To not optimize your dealer site for mobile … is a major miss as customers tend to use it as a ‘go-to’ research tool.” Speaking of which, having a “Text Us” option on dealer websites helped to increase the conversion rate by 28 percent for mobile users.
The study also found that site traffic to dealer websites was up 20% year-over-year, but lead volume from them decreased 20%. The company said “stabilizing but still unpredictable inventories, inflation, and interest rates, all out of the customers’ control, continue to impact why more ‘clicks’ don’t necessarily convert to more ‘sales.’”
Of course, that’s just part of the reason why customers shy away from certain dealers. As we’ve previously reported, 31% of people who paid over MSRP said they will tell others not to go to that dealership. More importantly, 25% of people who paid over MSRP said they would not return to that dealership at all.
