Mobile Innovations

The data is clear – the consumer is telling us they are adopting mobile, big-time. As traffic grows, we are seeing a consistent migration from the desktop to the mobile device. As a result, the industry is seeing excitement and energy around mobile innovation and custom sales processes tailored to this portal.

More than ever before, customers can chat, text, get a visual representation of a vehicle, as well as get pricing and all of the other content necessary to making a purchase decision from their mobile devices.

We recently conducted an exclusive CarsDirect survey of our mobile customers, asking questions about mobile-specific behavior. We present some of these results in the article below, so be sure to check it out. As you’ll see, a major takeaway from the CarsDirect Mobile Survey is that the mobile customer is further down the buying cycle than the desktop consumer, and therefore requires faster response – almost immediate, or you risk losing that opportunity.

Now is a good time to ask yourself whether you’re prepared for the mobile customer. As you do this, consider the following items:

• Are you looking at how you prioritize your leads and inquiries?
• Are you tracking traffic and conversion from desktop vs. the mobile portal?
• Is your site using responsive design (optimizes based on the device the consumer is using)?
• Do you know how to interact with the mobile customer? What kind of information will you freely share?
• When engaged in a text message, how do you get customers’ information without coming across as pushy?
• Who in your dealership gets text inquiries? Is there a dedicated phone you use?
• Does your advertising factor in the mobile customer?
• Which creative design issues are you faced with when it comes to designing your mobile brand, and display dimensions?

There are a certainly lot of questions to ask around mobile – and we haven’t even started to discuss the innovation happening out there right now in regards to mobile technology advancements. Here at CarsDirect, we’re working to lead the charge to innovate for the mobile customer.

I’ll take a deeper dive into this topic at the upcoming Internet Sales 20 Group being held April 8-10 in Atlantic City, as well as at Digital Dealer from May 6-8, also in Atlantic City. Hope to see you there!

Todd Dearborn
VP Sales, CarsDirect
(310) 280-4282
todd.dearborn@carsdirect.com