Dealer Image Pro recently announced results from an industry survey it commissioned to better understand how dealers are using vehicle photography and video to best merchandise cars and trucks in today’s digital retailing landscape. 

Dealer Image Pro presented an online survey to more than 3,000 automotive dealer professionals during June.

According to a news release, only 12% said they use a software or application to take and upload their own vehicle photos, with another 30% saying they have to train someone new to take photos every week.

The company discovered nearly 20% also said it takes them a day or two to get their photos and videos loaded onto their website. 

Furthermore, 53% of those dealers surveyed use a photo vendor service showing that this older form of merchandising can be convenient, but certainly not optimal.

Dealer Image Pro went on to mention almost 26% of respondents said they currently spend $30,000 to 40,000 per month in digital advertising while another 24% say they spend more than $40,000 per month in ad spend while a whopping 75% say they bring their cars to market with photos only three days per week or less.

“These figures ultimately show automotive dealerships missing crucial time to bring their vehicles to market each week, as the advertising dollars spent on vehicle listings are a direct reflection of the time lost. This lost time posting new inventory is costing dealers thousands in additional revenue each month,” Dealer Image Pro said in a news release.

 The average dealership spent more than $312,000 on online advertising in 2021, according to Statista.

“Automotive professionals are not maximizing the time they spend on bringing the vehicle to market versus the amount of advertising dollars spent,” Dealer Image Pro said.

The firm added that 31% of automotive dealer professionals surveyed said they see their vehicle detail pages (VDPs) up significantly this year, with 33%seeing their gross profit margin increase 10% to 15% above sticker price.  

“We still see dealerships using a physical camera when taking vehicle photos and videos, which shows just how obsolete the process is for some in today’s digital world,” Dealer Image Pro founder and chief executive officer Peter Duffy said in the news release. “We used to be the photo vendor using cameras. We loved this experience. It’s how we cut our teeth in this industry.

“The data is clear though, the path of least resistance is taking your content in-house with software on a mobile device,” Duffy continued. “Cars should be brought to market the day they’re out of recon. Full stop. This trend was evident 2-3 years ago, but after the last two years it’s crystal clear. The trick now for dealers is to find the right photo software to streamline their big lot operations.

“A software or company that gets their photos edited photos and videos published daily. a company that keeps your photographers trained, and QCs the content. Basically, getting an end-to-end solution that helps all automotive dealerships list and sell their vehicles faster,” he went on to say.

Duffy recently appeared on the Auto Remarketing Podcast to discuss vehicle photos and more best practices. The episode can be found below.