When it comes to differentiating the respective tasks for which today’s online car shopper is using the PC/laptop, tablet and smartphone, there’s a big opportunity perhaps not being full maximized by  dealers.

Isabelle Helms, senior director of research at AutoTrader.com, discussed this big opportunity and more with Auto Remarketing in her presentation of the company’s findings from its Multi-Device Car Shopping Study.

Citing R.L. Polk & Co. data and the study’s findings, AutoTrader pointed out that that 23 percent of car shoppers are using two or more devices — and the desktop/laptop is still the overwhelming favorite.

That said, these numbers are likely to change.  AutoTrader suggests that with the overall rapid adoption of mobile devices, multi-device shopping will see an “exponential increase.”

In fact, the company believes that by 2018, more than 50 percent of shoppers will be using multiple devices for car-shopping.

“With slightly less than a quarter of car shoppers using multiple devices, we are clearly still in the early stages of multi-device car shopping, but the 77 percent who are left will be hopping on the bandwagon soon enough,” said Helms. “As dealers and OEMs look to innovate in the mobile space, it’s important that they study these early adopters intently, as they are the ones who are going to be defining the road for all those who follow.”

In going over the study’s findings, Helms boiled them down to seven key takeaways for dealers, one of which was that “current device functionality and offerings dictate engagement.”

“One of the things we wanted to understand was, when they’re using a desktop or a smartphone or a tablet, what are they using these devices for?” Helms explained.

“And what we learned through this research is that today’s content largely isn’t all that different, regardless of what you’re using … they’re using these devices for very similar reasons, so we think there’s an opportunity here," she added.

Consider this data from the study.

When asked what “automobile activities” they conducted on their respective PC/laptop, smartphone and tablet devices in a week, this is what respondents had to say,  as the below charts noted the five most-popular activities for each device:

PC/laptop
Compare different models using reviews: 33 percent
Looked at a photo gallery: 33 percent
Pricing: 32 percent
Read car reviews: 30 percent
Find actual vehicles for sale: 25 percent

Smartphone
Pricing: 29 percent
Looked at a photo gallery: 26 percent
Read car reviews: 23 percent
Compare different models using reviews: 22 percent
Find actual vehicles for sale: 19 percent

Tablet
Read car reviews: 40 percent
Pricing: 37 percent
Looked at a photo gallery: 34 percent
Compare different models using reviews: 27 percent
Find actual vehicles for sale: 26 percent

As illustrated by the data above, Helms points out that these tasks are being conducted consistently across all three devices.  Essentially, these tasks are popular with all three.

“So our belief here is that there’s actually a desire for consumers to conduct activities across these devices that may differ from one device to the next, but the content that is available today is keeping them doing things that are truly differentiated,” she added.

Another slide in Helms’ presentation illustrates device preference. It showed how certain tasks may not necessarily be in the top five for usage on a specific device, but respondents noted they prefer utilizing that specific device over the others to accomplish the task.

For example, respondents said they prefer to use their PC/laptop to conduct detailed searches versus using their smartphone or tablet to get this done.

Similarly, they would rather use their smartphone if they need to email someone about the vehicle.

Another example is browsing photos. Respondents said they would prefer using their tablet.

“All of these things make sense. It’s just, are we optimizing the experiences for these devices today so that a consumer who wants to look at photos will be able to do that in a relatively easy fashion on a tablet, versus calling or emailing someone on a smartphone?”

When asked how this might change a dealer’s advertising strategy or how they customize ads on each device, Helms had this to say: “Specifically, with regards to advertising, I think one of the things that’s critical here is consistency. You want to make sure that whatever device the consumer is using, that you have a very consistent message across all of these devices.

“I think for dealerships, in particular, there are huge opportunities to start leveraging some of these devices differently at the dealership, tablets perhaps being the bigger one,” she noted.

Helms gave the example of providing Wi-Fi access at the dealership and how that might resonate with tablet users.

“Not all tablets have 4G access, and so just simply providing Wi-Fi flexibility for consumers who are walking in with a tablet in hand might be a huge differentiator for some of the dealers to enable consumers to kind of shop on their own while at the dealership, with the assistance of their iPads,” she said.

“Think about using iPad-type technology at a dealership to enable consumers to fill out a form while they’re waiting in the lounge, as opposed to sitting across the table from the F&I manager. There are loads of opportunities to start to leverage these devices very differently than they presently are.”

Likewise, there are opportunities for optimizing smartphone usage, as it’s been well-documented that consumers are employing these while on your lot.

“So, if you’re a dealer, and you have a mobile-optimized experience for a consumer on a smartphone, what information are you going to surface on a smartphone that may be different than the information you would surface first on a tablet?” Helms said.

“And that’s what we’re not seeing today in the marketplace; the information is the information and there’s not a lot of differentiation in terms of what’s being offered to consumers, regardless of what device they pick up," she concluded.
 

Joe Overby can be reached at joverby@autoremarketing.com. Continue the conversation with Auto Remarketing on both LinkedIn and Twitter.