Extensive still imagery, video and now 360 views inside and out are vital if a used car is to be viewed online by a would-be buyer making time to web a key dealership KPI.
The right visual assets to market your used cars online quickly and effectively need to be available practically immediately once a car is retail ready.
Would-be buyers will skip a car if the dreaded ‘awaiting imagery’ icon appears on their device screen whilst searching for their next used car so to increase the chances of a vehicle’s page being opened and browsed, images are a necessity.
Customers tend not to click on ads with poor or no images whilst video increases dwell time according to research carried out by Auto Trader. CitNOW’s own Benchmarking Report Vision Research* revealed that 74% of buyers are more likely to make a purchase if they’ve watched a video of the product.
And with 2018 dubbed ‘the year of the used car’, that key KPI – time to web – has never been more important.
Used car values continue to climb with CAP HPI reporting values strengthening further in the first 10 days of February on the back of a used car surge in February whilst the gathering momentum of used cars following fewer new registrations made national headlines in November for one large dealer group.
Last year 8.1 million used cars changed hands the second highest on record and indications are this year’s performance will also be strong. In Q218, more than 2 million used cars were sold, just 0.4% down year-on-year, almost mirroring Q1’s performance, so retailers need to maximise every opportunity.
Not surprisingly, the race to upload all digital assets to retailer, manufacturer and classified websites is intense. The ability to upload digital assets as soon as a car is retail ready gives dealers the edge.
Retailers want cars on their website as soon as possible after they arrive in the dealership, the sooner the car is in the marketplace, the sooner dealers can shift it and the more that can be offered at the first point of enquiry by a customer, the higher the chances of selling that vehicle quickly.
Crucially, just as the car receives a multi-point check, full valet and documentation is verified, photography, video and 360 imaging can now also be managed by the retailer.
Web Video and Smart Image with 360 interior and exterior provide all the means to capture the digital assets to market a used vehicle at a click and places control back in the hands of dealership staff. The video taker can move from one to the other seamlessly and manufacturer standards are embedded in the software. It means a car’s digital assets can be uploaded to websites in just a few hours.
Compare that to the time when dealers had to wait for the photographer to turn up on site from one week until the next.
As well as time to web, dealers can also meet another all-important KPI – manufacturer corporate standards for imagery and video which are already incorporated into the software.
One app, multiple digital content, online within hours.
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*The CitNOW Vision report combines survey responses from 2,000 UK motorists with video usage data from leading UK groups and brands.
