In part one of this blog series, we addressed how margins are being compressed, and how Dealerslink independent members are bucking that trend by sourcing smarter. However, that’s just a starting point. After you use analytics to source your vehicles, you still need to market them and get them to the digital front line faster.
In our observations and conversations with our independent members, we noticed that most are doing a good job merchandising their vehicles faster and more efficiently. If your car’s not online, it’s not for sale, and if it’s not online fast, it’s hurting your profit potential.
By using Dealerslink’s merchandising and export tool, independent dealers have achieved a higher level of efficiency. Here are two ways they are merchandising better than non-member independent dealerships.
1. Stocking retail-ready units
Time truly is money in the used-car industry. It can take franchise and independent dealers as much as seven to 10 days to get vehicles from the auction through reconditioning, then posted to the web.
Holding a vehicle costs $40 to $50 every day. If it takes 10 days to get a vehicle online, you’ve effectively cut gross profit by $400 to $500. If you purchase 15 units a month, that’s $7,500 in lost profits per month or $90,000 per year. Having vehicles sit on your lot is literally costing you money.
Meanwhile, top-performing Dealerslink independent dealers source clean, retail-ready vehicles from the dealer-direct Marketplace that are ready for the digital front line in an average of just two days. If you purchase 15 units a month, you could unlock an additional $72,000 per year in gross profits. Who doesn’t want that?
2. Speeding up listing time
Most independent dealers spend hours manually creating individual vehicle-details pages before they put it on their websites or export it to third-party sites. There’s nothing wrong with that, provided you’re doing everything you can to make sure you’re taking the least amount of time possible to post all the correct information.
Top-performing Dealerslink dealers get the job done in a matter of minutes by using the ExportPro merchandising tool that allows them to take photos, automatically create accurate and attractive listings, and post inventory online faster than their competitors.
The Dealerslink dealer-direct Marketplace and inventory-merchandising tools will help you create a welcoming digital storefront to introduce your customers to your dealership. They can research vehicles from the comfort of their home or office, and because they have all the information they need from your website, they’ll be ready to come in and kick the tires.
In part three of this series, we’ll discuss how our independent members sell more vehicles by pricing units better than their peers.
If you have any questions about Marketplace or any other Dealerslink offering, call us at 844-340-2522 or email info@Dealerslink.com.
