Edmunds.com celebrated the grand opening of its brand new headquarters — dubbed "EdQuarters" — at the Colorado Center in Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday.
The facility consisting of 143,000 square feet was designed by M+M Creative Studio, and site officials believe it “sets a new bar” for workplace culture and amenities in Los Angeles’ emerging “Silicon Beach” tech scene.
Highlights of the new office space include:
• A 6,000-pound installation of 1966 and 2016 Corvettes (to commemorate the company’s 50th anniversary) set wheel-to-wheel and rotating above the reception area
• A 32-foot custom stainless steel slide that connects the two floors
• A 1948 Cadillac Fleetwood re-purposed into a beer and coffee bar
• 130 feet of sliding glass panels that transform the office into an indoor/outdoor workspace
• 150 square-foot outdoor projector screen to accommodate movie nights for employees and their families
• Two 600-plus-gallon saltwater fish tanks that will be home to 160 fish
• Frozen yogurt machine with toppings bar, in addition to other complimentary food and beverage options
• Game room featuring classic video games, Foosball and air hockey
The new office space is the latest example of Edmunds’ commitment to the happiness and well-being of its staff of more than 700 employees. The company operates a results-only work environment (ROWE), which gives all employees the freedom to set their own hours and take the time off they need, as long as they deliver results for the company.
Other perks provided to Edmunds’ staff include TripCa$h, which reimburses each employee up to $500 in vacation expenses, and Bonusly, a program that empowers employees to recognize each other’s work and accomplishments with small spot bonuses.
“As one of the founding tech companies on Silicon Beach, Edmunds is used to leading the way, and we’ve continued this tradition by taking a fresh and innovative approach to our new offices,” Edmunds.com chief executive officer Avi Steinlauf said.
“With cutting-edge designs, immaculate indoor/outdoor spaces, and amenities that you’re more likely to find at a luxury resort, we’re excited to offer our employees and guests a comfortable environment where they can work, create, think and play,” Steinlauf added.
A photo gallery of Edmunds’ new EdQuarters can be found here.
Cars.com chief executive officer and president Alex Vetter explained why the company’s decision to acquire DealerRater goes way beyond just another sales tool within its service portfolio it can provide to dealerships.
In a way, Vetter described the pending transaction first announced on Tuesday morning basically as a move to protect dealerships from losing their sales business to upstarts that are aiming to carve away vehicle turns through a wide array of new technological approaches.
“I think it’s an important time in the auto industry because there are so many new peer-play digital companies coming into our industry, pushing the new experience or the new way to buy,” Vetter told Auto Remarketing in an exclusive phone conversation.
“We believe inherently that local dealers are still people’s best bet,” he continued. “Some lack the tools and technology to amplify what great experiences they’re providing in each of their local markets. We’re excited to help dealers harness the power of word-of-mouth marketing to amplify their customer sentiment, which we know is extremely positive.
“The media tends to focus on the one or two bad examples that are bound to happen in a big category with a big-ticket item,” Vetter went on to say. “We like to help dealers develop their own media channel to help get the word out about the great customers they’re solving problems for each and every day. There’s a lot of great opportunities here for our clients.”
Part of that opportunity resides with the potential of combining what DealerRater offers — a compilation of consumer opinions about a store’s sales and service department — with what Cars.com provides — vehicle inventory listings as well as research and other information to help individuals select a model that fits best.
“As you’ve seen over the last five, six years, consumer reviews have become a really important ingredient for all forms of e-commerce, not just automotive,” Vetter said. “You look across every category, and you could easily collect and read about prior people’s experiences with products or service providers. In the automotive industry, the competition we know is always high. Reviews are increasingly becoming one of the key decision points in helping consumers decide to they go to A or do they go to B.”
Beyond just opinions, Vetter pointed out that the combination of Cars.com and DealerRater should provide stores with a gateway to shoppers during their entire online journey to a purchase.
“What we’ve seen with DealerRater is consumers are using this last stage as an important check-in,” he said. “If you look at the audience and go to Cars.com, you tend to have a six-month purchase horizon. If you go to our mobile devices, you tend to be on almost a three-month purchase horizon on average and obviously some on a much shorter term. But when you look at DealerRater, your purchase horizon is about four weeks. “
“(The acquisition) allows Cars.com to help our dealers reach potential buyers at all stages, from the research to the vehicle selection to the dealer selection. It ensures (dealers are) in front of people when they’re making important decisions,” Vetter went on to say.
Cars.com carefully arrived at this important decision, too. Vetter described the “practical” methodology the company used.
“We’re very practical with our investors and acquisitions,” he said. “We want to make sure we find businesses that are complementary strategically, financially, culturally and operationally. I think we found that in DealerRater.
“They’ve got the best products in the industry, but they lacked the sales force of any scale,” Vetter continued. “Cars.com has invested hundreds of millions of dollars building out a robust sales network. Now we have a new product and solution we can introduce to the marketplace. There’s a lot of complementary and synergistic fit between a world-class product with a world-class sales force and being able to bring it to our 20,000-plus dealer relationships, and soon to manufacturers as well.
“The deal has a lot of win-wins for both sides that I think made this deal stand out,” he went on to say.
Auto Remarketing closed it conversation with Vetter by asking about what the impact this transaction might have on Cars.com a year from now — a span that might seem like centuries in technological terms in light of how quickly advances are made. To answer the question, Vetter returned to a thought about the traditional place dealerships have in the automotive market.
“We think that dealers are still spending half of their marketing budgets on traditional media, yet most people tend to ignore those mass-marketing messages and go online to decide on what to buy and where to buy it,” Vetter said.
“A year from now, what I would like to see is dealerships’ profitability increase because they rely less on expensive, large-scale traditional advertising and rely more on tapping into their own customer base to share and socialize how great it is to do business with them so that there aren’t this new crop of digital retailers that are coming into the industry,” he continued.
“I would like to see those businesses go by the wayside and more local dealers maintain their position of strength in the local market as the place to buy, trade and service their cars,” Vetter went on to say.
Cars.com announced on Tuesday morning that the company has entered into an agreement to acquire DealerRater, one of the industry's largest automotive consumer review websites.
Officials indicated the transaction is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions, and is expected to close by the end of August. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The companies pointed out reviews have become critical to the car buying process, with 79 percent of car buyers and 68 percent of service customers reporting that review sites are one of the most helpful resources when selecting a dealership.
“We are pleased to bring DealerRater into the Cars.com family of industry-leading products and people as we create the largest dealer review platform in the automotive sector," said Alex Vetter, chief executive officer and president of Cars.com.
“With this acquisition, Cars.com has solidified its position as the leader in online automotive reviews and the preeminent authority for car shoppers and owners on what to buy, where to buy and who to buy from,” Vetter continued in a news release highlighting the development also shared by Automotive News and The Banks Report.
Since Cars.com launched its reviews in 2011, the company insisted it has maintained its transparent model for generating consumer feedback, which can better serve shoppers and customers. The addition of DealerRater and its review database further strengthens this value proposition, according to executives.
“We are happy to be joining Cars.com and are proud to share a similar foundation,” DealerRater chief executive officer Gary Tucker said.
“DealerRater is uniquely positioned to lead the industry transition to finding not only the right dealer, but connecting consumers with the right person at the right dealer,” Tucker went on to say.
Cars.com might be discussing this acquisition and more during its workshop at the CPO Forum, the segment of Used Car Week dedicated to certified pre-owned vehicles. Used Car Week runs Nov. 14-18 at the Red Rock Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
Visitors to manufacturer websites who use shopping tools such as a payment calculator or interior/exterior view tend to be more satisfied with their car-shopping experience, according to the summer edition of the J.D. Power 2016 Manufacturer Website Evaluation Study.
The study, in its 17th year, measures the usefulness of automakers' websites during the new-vehicle shopping process by looking at four key areas. In order of importance, they are: information/content, appearance, speed and navigation. Satisfaction is calculated on a 1,000-point scale. Overall customer satisfaction with OEM websites is 807 points.
Almost all new-vehicle buyers spend time on manufacturer websites, and, according to the study, consumer satisfaction with those websites depends mostly on the quality of the content.
More than half (57 percent) of shoppers who are delighted with their website experience (overall satisfaction scores of 901 and above) indicate they are more likely to test drive a vehicle after visiting the site. In comparison, only 16 percent of those who are disappointed with their experience (scores of 500 or below) indicate they're more likely to test drive a vehicle.
“The content on manufacturer websites must embody three key attributes: It must be easy to access. It must provide sufficient detail to answer shoppers’ questions. And it must help tell the brand story,” Arianne Walker, senior director of marketing analytics at J.D. Power, said in a news release. “There’s a direct connection between manufacturers that utilize their digital showroom effectively and satisfied shoppers who then become buyers.”
J.D. Power noted that automakers should be mindful of the kind of content that shoppers are using, and they need to continually monitor and improve that content to keep up with shoppers’ changing expectations and needs.
A number of specific shopping tools positively affect satisfaction with manufacturers’ websites, including use of the configurator; compare tool; exterior 360 view; interior 360 view; offers/incentives; and payment calculator. Many of these tools also are positively correlated with vehicle purchase, according to the J.D. Power Online-to-Offline (O2O) analytics benchmarks.
"Gen Y shoppers — soon to be the largest group of new-vehicle shoppers — use these tools at higher rates than Boomers, signifying that manufacturers must continue to invest in and improve website tools in response to shifts in the car-buying population,” Walker said.
Key findings from the 2016 summer study include:
—Positive experience drives improved brand image perception: The study finds that, through pre/post brand perception measurements as 40 percent of shoppers have an improved impression of the brand after their website experience. A positive website experience helps drive key brand qualities. Even shoppers’ perceptions that are difficult to change, such as reputation and reliability, improve after they experience a brand’s website.
—Gen Y shoppers like it more: These shoppers tend to show a more positive perception of a brand after the website visit compared with Boomers.
—Ranking the three highest-performing Sites: Land Rover (834) ranks highest in overall manufacturer website satisfaction, followed by Jaguar (833) and Mercedes-Benz (831).
The 2016 Manufacturer Website Evaluation Study Summer is based on responses from more than 9,500 new-vehicle shoppers who indicate they will be in the market for a new vehicle within the next 24 months. The study was conducted May 3-17.
Manufacturer Website Ranking (based on a 1,000-point scale)
Land Rover: 834
Jaguar: 833
Mercedes-Benz: 831
BMW: 828
Fiat: 826
Cadillac: 825
Infiniti: 825
Jeep: 821
Acura: 819
Audi: 817
Mitsubishi: 815
Porsche: 815
Ram: 815
Lexus: 814
Lincoln: 811
Smart: 810
MINI: 808
Industry Average: 807
Volkswagen: 805
Hyundai: 804
Dodge: 802
Chrysler: 798
Volvo: 797
GMC: 794
Honda: 794
Nissan: 793
Mazda: 791
Toyota: 784
Chevrolet: 783
Ford: 782
Subaru: 782
Kia: 781
Buick: 779
The team at digital marketing solutions provider LotVantage noticed five dealerships in four states found ways to leverage the smartphone gaming app that’s all the rage nowadays — Pokémon GO.
Franchised stores already sporting Hondas, Nissans and Subarus are welcoming people looking for Pikachus and other Pokémon characters, and LotVantage shared strategy so dealerships can find what they want most — ups who might need a new vehicle to get to the Pokémon Gyms and PokéStops.
If you’re already confused about this Pokémon business and what it’s all about, LotVantage recommended in a blog post that store managers should first download the app for their smartphone and play the game for a bit to see what’s getting people of all ages so excited.
“We’ve already seen a few dealerships using Pokémon GO in their marketing and it’s a fantastic way to engage and grow your social media audience. This is far more interesting than just posting inventory,” LotVantage said in this blog post.
“Creative marketing is one way to bring customers to your dealership, but you can also lure them to your dealership using the game. If your dealership is close to a PokéStop or a Poké Gym, you’re one of the lucky ones,” the company continued.
LotVantage highlighted these stores are already using their Facebook pages to get involved with Pokémon GO.
—Sellers Subaru in Macomb Township, Mich.
—Mile High Motors of Butte Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram in Butte, Mont.
—Concordville Nissan in Glen Mills, Pa.
—Performance Toyota Nissan in Reading, Pa.
—Crown Honda of Southpoint in Durham, N.C.
Jumpstart Automotive Group, a division of Hearst Autos specializing in marketing and advertising solutions, on Tuesday announced an exclusive ad sales representation agreement with Autolist.com.
San Francisco-based Autolist is a rapidly growing auto publisher with more than 4.4 million new, used and certified pre-owned vehicles for sale across the U.S. Autolist uses a mobile-first approach to offer consumers a multifaceted car-shopping experience through its cross-device features, including powerful search tools, customizable alerts, real-time and market-based pricing, vehicle time-on-market analyses, and vehicle price history reports.
“Autolist delilvers a comprehensive auto shopping experience for consumers that translates into a strong, low funnel audience,” Nick Matarazzo, chief executive officer of Jumpstart, said in a news release. “The addition of Autolist enables us to tap into consumers deep in the automotive purchase funnel. This becomes increasingly important as we develop next-generation mobile programs for our advertisers in an evolving digital landscape.”
“We are thrilled to partner with Jumpstart to represent our advertising business,” added Corey Lydstone, president and CEO of Autolist. “Jumpstart’s unique approach to maximizing publisher revenue while delivering innovative marketing programs for advertisers is the best fit for us as we continue to expand our automotive content and online shopping offerings.”
DealerRater recently announced that LotShot, previously a web-only photo review application, is now available as a feature in the DealerRater for Dealers app for iOS.
Considered to be easier to use than ever before, LotShot can allow salespeople at DealerRater Certified Dealerships — which currently stands at more than 5,600 stores in the U.S. and Canada — to snap and share customer photos at vehicle delivery, email them to a customer and “dramatically” improve their chances of receiving a review.
The site insisted nearly 50 percent of all LotShot review requests made by dealership salespeople to their vehicle-buying customers result in a review on DealerRater.
“Purchasing a car is a significant event and LotShot has proven to be both a fun way to share the moment and a very effective way to quickly earn a review,” DealerRater chief executive officer Gary Tucker said.
“Adding LotShot to our smartphone-based employee app streamlines the picture-taking, sharing and review invitation process,” Tucker added.
In a social media-powered consumer economy, DealerRater highlighted that studies have shown that photos perform best for likes, comments and shares compared to text, video, and site links. In addition, product and service reviews that include customer pictures greatly improve review credibility.
Photo reviews on DealerRater earn more than twice the amount of helpful votes from consumers compared to plain text reviews.
“LotShot is simply cool,” said Chuck Prosch, fleet/Internet manager at Pearland, Texas-based Strickland Chevrolet, a two-time DealerRater Texas Dealer of the Year and Consumer Satisfaction Award winner.
“I don’t know anyone who doesn't like to see a picture of themselves with their new vehicle,” Prosch continued.
DealerRater emphasized the LotShot app capability is simple to use. A dealership salesperson opens LotShot on their smartphone, takes or uploads a photo, enters the vehicle-buyer’s name and email address, previews the note and sends the photo along with DealerRater review completion instructions.
“What we have found with LotShot is that customers not only get back to us about the experience they had with their salesperson,” added Prosch, “but they also share LotShot photos with family and friends, adding to the positive feeling they have about our team members."
The DealerRater for Dealers app for iOS is included in Certified Essentials, the company’s reputation-management toolkit. The iOS version of the app is available for immediate download by DealerRater Certified Dealers.
An Android version of the app will be released soon. Certified Dealers can sign up to be notified when it becomes available.
For more information on LotShot, visit info.dealerrater.com/Lotshot.
Automotive digital marketing technology provider LotLinx recently announced John Lane joined the company's executive team as chief marketing officer. In this role, Lane will lead all LotLinx marketing and communication initiatives.
Lane joins LotLinx after a 30-year career working for some of the world's largest advertising agencies as well as Fortune 500 companies. Most recently, Lane served as an angel investor and advisor within the startup community, working to develop marketing strategy and drive digital impact for growing companies such as Revolution Health, HealthLine, Chug and [x+1], which was acquired by RocketFuel in 2014.
Previously, he spent three years as senior vice president of online marketing at AOL and seven years as vice president of online marketing at Charles Schwab.
“John has proven time and time again that he understands digital marketing inside and out,” LotLinx chairman Len Short.
“Over the course of his career, John has been at the forefront, advocating for the latest and greatest in marketing technology,” Short continued. “We are overjoyed to have an individual who shares our dedication to transforming the digital marketing space in such a pivotal leadership role.”
Lane described what drew him to LotLinx.
“I have long been impressed with the dedication of LotLinx in helping car dealers to leverage the power of digital advertising,” he said. “LotLinx is doing something extraordinary. By focusing on only one industry, the mar-tech we have built is designed to meet the unique needs of auto dealers. Rather than using technology to assemble a digital audience for dealers to purchase, LotLinx begins with the for sale vehicle inventory that needs exposure, and directs shoppers to them.
“This novel approach is why LotLinx customers can improve their business and reduce waste at the same time,” Lane went on to say. “I’m beyond excited to apply my digital marketing expertise to the industry to continue this forward momentum.”
Shift Technologies announced a new iPhone app on Wednesday that lets the customer order delivery of a car for a test drive or have their own car instantly appraised.
As far as the test drive, notifications within the app notify the shopper when a specific car is available. The shopper can then use the app to request the vehicle be delivered to them for the test drive.
To have a vehicle appraised, the shopper punches in basic information on their car or scans the VIN. Shift will then send an immediate appraisal.
In determining quotes, Shift said it uses an algorithm that accounts for real-time listings and prior sales in a given market.
“Creating a mobile experience for our customers marks the next step in redefining what it means to conveniently buy or sell a used car,” Shift head of engineering Jon Vincent said in a news release.
“Mobile commerce is growing at a record pace across most sectors,” he added. “We are excited to take advantage of that trend and to bring cutting-edge technology to the used car marketplace.”
Automotive marketing and advertising company Jumpstart Automotive Group released its latest shopper study on Monday, drilling deeper down into the behavior patterns of women and millennials as well as Asian and Hispanic shoppers.
While each of those demographics showed some unique characteristics, Libby Murad-Patel pinpointed what might be most important to dealerships on how to handle any customer who walks into the showroom or skims the store website with their computer or mobile device.
Murad-Patel, vice president of strategic insights and analytics for Jumpstart, explained that what’s generating so much shopper change is what she called the “accessibility of information.” She elaborated with Auto Remarketing after Jumpstart shared the study, which was completed in collaboration with Ipsos Connect and titled “Today’s Auto Shoppers: How They Research and Why Trust is So Essential in Winning Them Over.”
“Whether it’s literally doing a comparison of vehicles on your phone while you’re at the dealership or using social media to get recommendations and reviews, I think these are the big things that are changing the process,” Murad-Patel said. “Word of mouth has always been important. But the format that it’s in now has changed.
“Part of social media and its influence, they’ve made the consideration window an ongoing thing,” she continued. “We talk in this study about how people are always passively shopping. They’re always collecting information. That’s a little bit of a change. People who are in market are already coming in with a pretty good idea about the vehicles that are top of mind or a few brands that are top of mind. That’s because they’re constantly gathering. We’ve always seen other cars on the road.
“Now that we’re also seeing them in social media, we talk to a lot more people, either verbally or through a computer screen or mobile device, and we’re sharing a lot more information. Ultimately that’s building that constant consideration set. That’s helping to make that shopping window to be a little bit shorter because we’re already coming into market with what we’re considering.”
Jumpstart found that consumers are constantly cycling in and out of market depending on their changing life situations and preferences. Shoppers, especially millennials, no longer spend four months in the vehicle-purchasing process, which Murad-Patel pegged as short as 30 days — a timeframe that likely would delight any dealership.
To be exact, the study indicated 74 percent of millennials now take four weeks or less when shopping for a vehicle, and 88 percent research online throughout the entire process.
“That was pretty critical in terms of that segment. That research window was much shorter than we anticipated,” Murad-Patel said.
Jumpstart indicated that women continue to be an important audience for automakers and dealers, particularly since they influence 80 percent of all transactions. The study mentioned that women rely heavily on independent research and reviews and are more likely to consult Consumer Reports than any other group. Women place a greater value on practical needs such as passenger seating, comfort and safety, while remaining budget conscious. Although they are primarily new-model buyers, they show more willingness than men to consider used if it means they’re going to get more for their money.
“If they were able to get more of the bells and whistles on top of their needs at a better price point with perhaps a warranty, then used was still a consideration,” Murad-Patel said.
Jumpstart determined Asian and Hispanic shoppers place a greater emphasis on brands or vehicles that are more popular or recognizable, as well as vehicles with alternative fuel options. The study showed overall purchase price is important to Asian shoppers, but they show more willingness to increase their monthly payment if they feel the value is there. Hispanic shoppers rank purchase price higher than monthly payment, but monthly payment is a higher consideration for them than any other group.
The firm highlighted that Asian consumers have a higher affinity for luxury vehicles due to a “you get what you pay for” mentality and cultural influences that place a big emphasis on quality. Hispanic shoppers tend to purchase more new vehicles than used, and they often hold onto a vehicle and pass it down to a family member instead of trading it in, making trade-in offers less relevant to this group.
No matter the age, gender or ethnicity, Murad-Patel shared with Auto Remarketing about what Jumpstart expected and what the study showed.
“Anticipations going into (the study) were largely that a little more broadly we would find a lot more bigger differences in how people shop,” she said. “In reality, their methods are all very similar. The differences were really found in either the technology they used or relied heavily upon during the time period in which they shopped.”
Quality & reliability now more important than fuel economy
Throughout the research, Jumpstart indicated quality and reliability were of higher importance than fuel economy. Analysts contend this trend might stem from a recall-heavy environment today combined with low gas prices over the last few years.
When consumers begin their research, Jumpstart found that their top three must-haves in a brand or vehicle are: good value (77 percent), a reputation for being strong and reliable (68 percent) and a reputation for excellent quality (65 percent).
But ultimately when it comes time to buy, quality and reliability (34 percent), gas mileage (29 percent) and price point (28 percent) are the top three key influencers for all shoppers.
“The results of this study illustrate that people are similar in the way that they gather information. But there are both subtle and significant differences between demographics,” Murad-Patel said.
“Our hope is that brands across the entire automotive spectrum use these insights to help elevate the shopping experience for all consumers.”
About the study
The research was conducted by Ipsos Connect from December through March. Through qualitative research (online diaries, focus groups, and one-on-one interviews in Houston and Sacramento, Calif.), then quantifying — with measurable data — those findings through a series of national online surveys, Jumpstart stressed that this study provides a look at general trends and addresses some of the fundamental differences among these key demographics.
For the survey, 1,014 U.S. respondents were interviewed online, all of whom met the following three criteria:
—Adults ages 18 to 64
—At least $30,000 in annual household income
—Purchased a vehicle in the past year or intended to purchase a vehicle in the next six months.
Jumpstart explained the precision of online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the survey has a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
According to Stephen Kraus, chief insights officer for Ipsos Connect and director of the study, “This study paints a vivid portrait of today’s auto shopper: informed, empowered, value-oriented and brand-focused. The research also underscores the crucial importance of the Internet, as 80 percent research online throughout the purchase process, not just as the purchase becomes imminent.”
To download the complete study, go to this website.
