Memorial Day is around the corner which means the 2023 Summer Selling Season is finally upon us. Usually, summer selling season signals it’s time to fill up the balloons, grill up hot dogs, and install the window flags. In this market, however, it also means trying to find new ways to overcome 8% APRs, sky high vehicle prices, and upside-down customers.
If you’re concerned these headwinds will rain on your summer parade, don’t be. Opportunities to convert shoppers to buyers still abound.
Here are three real world deal-making tips we uncovered from digging through recent transaction data and shopping behavior. Add these tips to your tool kit and you’ll have a summer to remember.
Tip 1: Summer sell-down? Consider the summer car-down instead.
Recent transaction data tells us that many of today’s car shoppers are prospecting on higher priced vehicles, but self selecting to transact on lower priced models. These shoppers are car-ing themselves down.
We see that on average, only 67% of new car shoppers end up buying the same model year vehicle that they’ve prospected on. While a few of these shoppers move to a newer model year (likely because of inventory constraints) most of these shoppers buy something older. This holds true even if they switch models within the brand.
New car shoppers aren’t just car-ing themselves down a year. They’re also often switching from new to used. In our recent ASTR study, we uncovered that nationwide, a full 7% of shoppers who prospect on new cars end up opting to buy something used instead, a 10% increase from the 6 months prior.
The smart move may be to anticipate this vehicle switch could be coming, and position yourself to show the benefits of less expensive vehicle options…vehicles you’ve already picked out well ahead of time. Having several lower priced options ready to recommend in the event your shopper begins to balk over pricing of their first choice could be a deal saver.
Tip 2: Prepare for the Process Shopper
Here at TrueCar, we’re seeing the emergence of a new type of car shopper. You might be seeing them too. In fact, these shoppers may already be in your CRM or visiting your showroom: The “Process Shoppers.”
- They are…younger, earn higher than average incomes, and have buying motivations that differ greatly from the traditional shopper we’ve become accustomed to over the last several decades.
- They are not…searching for the “best deal,” nor are they looking for an exact vehicle, nor are they chasing for a lightning fast transaction. Instead, they are hungry for an excellent sales process.
And if you can get in front of these shoppers, they can be the key to incremental deals.
In a recent TrueCar survey of in-market car shoppers, 25% of them described themselves as what we call “process.” These shoppers may not know exactly what they want to buy, but they know they want to buy it.
We asked these Process Shoppers to rank six car shopping pillars from most to least important.
“Having an easy shopping experience” ranked second only to “Getting a vehicle with strong reliability ratings” and ranked ahead of:
- Paying the lowest price
- Getting a vehicle with great fuel economy
- Having an expedited sales process
- Getting the specific features I want
In short, whoever meets these Process Shoppers with the level of service they crave will likely win their business, regardless of brand. So stay focused on a streamlined, easy experience that’s customized to your shopper.
Tip 3: Fight affordability concerns with used EVs
The interest for electric vehicles has skyrocketed. According to our most recent survey, 60% of in-market shoppers are considering EV, so even if your customer hasn’t mentioned it, there’s a chance EVs are on their mind.
Similar to what we discussed in Tip 1, don’t overlook the value used electric vehicles can present to your shoppers this summer. Because of their often accelerated depreciation curve, several well equipped, late model and low mileage vehicles can be had at a low selling price.
Consider this: The average price of a new car purchased through TrueCar is roughly $48,000 while the average used car transaction hovers around $30,700. But, recent model year, lower mileage all-electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf, Kia Soul EV, Fiat 500e, and Volkswagen e-Golf can often be found in the $15,000 range.
If you can add a few of these options to your product mix, they can be game changers for buyers looking to find lower mileage, newer pre-owned vehicles.
Try some or all of these this summer to keep your sales hot and your customers happy.Join Our Network