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As most of us say ‘good riddance’ to 2008, it seems everyone has a heightened sense of awareness going into 2009. In regards to strategy, Dealers are making more careful choices and wiser decisions.  Ambiguity has been replaced with accountability, trust is synonymous with proof, and vendors are being audited.  But above all, the dealers who will survive in 2009 and beyond will be those who fundamentally shift their beliefs about the Internet.

During the housing boom, money was flowing.  It seemed one out of two vehicles on the road had paper plates.  Meanwhile most dealers were still trying to figure out the Internet with many refusing to believe it was a lucrative means of reaching existing and potential customers because..well, they were selling cars.

Also remember, the tech bubble had burst shortly before the housing bubble began…so the theory of the Internet taking over our daily lives was in question.  But what emerged from the tech implosion was a leaner, more viable Internet.  The fat fell off and the Internet was exposed for its most essential offerings - email and search.  And with more data showing Internet usage increasing and car shoppers looking online to start their research, dealers started moving their Internet efforts higher on the priority list.  Yet although dealers were starting to embrace the Internet, they were still unwilling to relinquish their old habits.  According to NADA - in 2005 dealers on average spent $177,992 on newspapers, $72,821on radio, $58,631 on TV, $30,132 on direct mail, and $25,844 on the Internet.  As the old saying goes, “I know my advertising budget is working…I just don’t know which part”.

So now that 2008 has proven that over 90% of people planning to purchase a vehicle start their buying cycle online, what do you plan to do with that information, and are you thinking of reallocating your budgets according to proven user behavior?

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The days of only monitoring a competing dealer’s specials down the street are over. The dealership of today must buy and price its inventory with a deep understanding of its online competitors and the National marketplace.

With ecarlist Pricing Analytics you can simultaneously view and compare Black Book, *NADA, and *AuctionNet wholesale data with eBay, Auto Trader, and Cars.com retail data to confidently make trade appraisals and price your inventory.

INSIDE ECARLIST: Know Your Competition

• Compare inventory with similar vehicles online using ‘real-time’ VIN matching
• View completed vehicle sales on eBay Motors for up to 3 months
• See how your competitors are pricing their vehicles
• Sort competing vehicles by color, distance, trim, and more
• Set pricing alerts on competing vehicles
• View a time stamped history of listing prices for competing vehicles
• Know how long your competition has owned their vehicle

INSIDE ECARLIST: Leverage Market Data with Customers

Successful dealers control the flow of communication with customers throughout the sales and negotiation process. This is not possible if the dealer’s access to and knowledge of vehicle market data is inferior to that of his customer. In today’s rapidly shifting marketplace where information equals power, timely access to accurate market data has become the currency of successful Internet dealers.

ecarlist Pricing Analytics empowers dealers by making it possible to identify and evaluate competing vehicles on the fly while communicating with prospective customers.

When properly harnessed, market data can become a dealer’s strongest sales and negotiations tool, leveling the playing field and providing the means to overcome customer pricing objections and misinformation.