A message from our CEO
As we speed through the first half of the year it’s the perfect time to stop and reflect on how we as Autotrader can best update you, our retailers in the most effective way. We’re changing how we communicate with you so you can hear directly from the people closest to the market, our products and the work Autotrader are doing to support you, the dealers in the best way we can.
Going forward the updates from our CEO Nathan Coe, will focus more on what we as a company are learning and what we’re doing in response to these new learnings.
This update from our CEO will cover topics like
What we heard at our Customer Advisory Groups
What key themes we’re hearing across the market
What we’re focused on next
Customer Advisory Groups
After the second instalment of the Autotrader Customer Advisory Group we have gained a deeper insight into how we can best support retailers in the market. We have 25 members representing dealers of all types, who have been good enough to give their time and experience to help shape our priorities, products and the support we provide to you. The group consists of a large range of customers, both franchise and independent, bringing different voices, perspectives, and unique experiences into the room. These conversations are honest, practical and incredibly useful and they ensure our work is always grounded in what dealers see and feel every day.
But these conversations would mean nothing if we weren’t able to walk away with actionable insights and a group willing to hold us to account. They’re not afraid to challenge us on the things they don’t feel are right, or to push us to explore areas differently. This helps us see where we’re landing things well and where we have more work to do.
Key themes across the market
Both franchise and independent dealers seemed to raise the same key themes, while volume and demand hold buoyant, trade prices on used vehicles have continued to rise, especially for EVs and this along with rising costs is squeezing margins for dealers across the market. This tightening of margin coupled with softening lead volumes as a result of the hot weather, World Cup and ever-changing geo-political landscape means that dealers are hesitant to pass these increased costs onto buyers. As a result, dealers must have an even sharper focus on the value of every pound spent.
For franchise dealers this means priorities have shifted to more focus on consumer retention, deeper lead insights and more efficient pricing and reporting tools
For independents this means more focus on extracting more value from your Autotrader package and to have practical self-serve insights to make faster decisions.
Dealers have consistently told us that they want tools that essentially save time, help them understand performance more clearly and, make it easier to act on. Buyer behaviour. This means we need to have tools and products that can offer dealers more flexibility and visibility to support you where you need it most like, better reporting and messaging in Portal, API integrations and valuations.
We’ve launched our brand-new YouTube channel: The Keys. A place for dealers to stay in the know, where we’ll pull back the curtain on the incredible dealerships we work alongside and what makes them tick; lay out the data and insights to make sure everyone’s on the inside track; and share incredible products that’ll take your forecourt to the next level.
What we’re focused on next
The consistent message is that you want more transparency, flexibility and insight, particularly around buyer behaviour and advertising value. Those are exactly the areas we’ll continue to work on with you.
Here’s what’s on the horizon…
Testing Price Indicators
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The dial will now become a flag in a dedicated pricing panel which includes refreshed content to help consumers understand more about price indicator and better explain each of the flags.
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We’re introducing two new content areas on the product page to help you give more pricing context and key selling points for a vehicle.
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We’ll continue to test removing exact “above and below” values. You’ve told us they can become a negotiation tool, but buyers still need market context. To balance both, we’re testing an upper and lower bar for the “good” range.
Exploring WhatsApp functionality
WhatsApp is another area we’re continuing to explore. Across the advisory groups and time with our customers, you’ve been clear that you want to use WhatsApp more, integrated in a way that creates a seamless experience for both dealers and buyers. Our focus is exploring how we can implement WhatsApp as a new lead type, enabling consumers to directly contact you through WhatsApp from our product page. We’re investigating a solution that works for the majority of customers, whilst also considering how we would build clear visibility and reporting on leads and buying signals.
We’re committed to delivering what you’re asking for, but we know it needs to be well thought-through, stable and work for all dealers. This is the standard that you will expect, and so will car buyers.
We’ve heard your feedback and are taking steps to implement the changes that will help support your business as best we can. The Customer Advisory Groups are just one way we want to hear your feedback. We will continue to have all the ways available for you to input, including forums, webinars and through your account manager who can pass this through to the relevant teams. We’d love to hear from you, so please do get in touch
The bigger point is that we’re listening and we’re committed to acting. These groups are part of how we want to work with you consistently - listening carefully, being open about what we’re hearing, and showing how your feedback shapes our priorities. The Customer Advisory Groups are just one way we want to hear your feedback. We will continue to have all the ways available for you to input, including forums, webinars and through your account manager who can pass this through to the relevant teams.
We’d love to hear from you, so please do get in touch
To hear more about the 8 key updates from your feedback you can read the blog.
Or if you would like to hear more about the work we’re doing with our Customer Advisory Groups head over to our Customer Advisory Group Hub