J.D. Power released a report today which measures the usefulness of automotive third-party websites during the new- and used-vehicle shopping process. In its third year, the J.D. Power 2015 Third-Party Automotive Website Evaluation Study focused on four measures to rank the sites: information/content, appearance, navigation and speed.

According to the company, which ranks the sites on a 1,000-point scale, among shoppers who were highly satisfied with their experience on a site (giving a score between 901 and 1,000), 52 percent said they “definitely will” request more info about a vehicle from a dealership. To contrast, 5 percent of those who had a less satisfying experience (giving a score between 0 and 500) said they would follow up with a dealership about the product.

“When shopping online, a positive automotive third-party website experience can influence shoppers’ inclination to reach out directly to a dealer to request information about the vehicle they are researching,” said Arianne Walker, the senior director of automotive media and marketing at J.D. Power. “Both dealers and brands benefit by connecting shoppers to the ultimate point of purchase.”

Some other key findings, according to J.D. Power, are as follows:

• 79 percent of vehicle shoppers are looking for vehicle price when searching inventory. Used-vehicle shoppers (84 percent) are more interested in price compared to new-vehicle shoppers (75 percent).
• When being contacted by dealership, 67 percent prefer to be contacted by email. Eighteen percent preferred to be called by phone, and 5 percent preferred standard mail.

NADAguides and Cars.com were awarded the highest scores when ranked with other third-party sites. Here’s the entire list, according to J.D. Power, based on its 1,000-point scale: