Over seventy percent of our customers perform research online prior to making a purchase decision. Forty percent will perform research online but purchased offline, and thirty percent will research online and then purchase online. Both of those segments bring two different opportunities for our service and part business.
For those that research online and then purchase offline are the hand raisers we are looking for. These customers are looking for more information online so they are educated and make the right decision when they visit the store. The biggest area of opportunity would be to target branded search terms such as Ford Taurus alternator or Nissan tires or Honda oil change.
Branded search term (BST) such as “Ford water pump” or “Honda timing belt” would help generate sales over the front parts counter. These customers might represent the do it yourselfer or backyard mechanic but what it really represents is the biggest opportunity for retail growth in parts. However, our competitor capitalizes on this opportunity eighty six percent of the time. These BST’s carry the largest query volume, there has been tremendous growth year over year and comparatively does not have a lot of competition in this space. The question is why are dealers only getting the click through fourteen percent of the time.
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