Positive dealer feedback speaks volumes Richard Dicello The past twelve months have been exceptionally busy for the Planning and Development team of the Autotrader Group. At the heart of our work this year has been the goal of building a platform to help dealers reduce their marketing spend. A big task, but an important one! Ahead of its launch, we spent over a year refining and polishing the platform - meeting with dealers to gather and implement their feedback. We also leveraged the might and expertise of the savvy Global Motoring team at the eBay Classifieds Group (now the part of the Adevinta Group). For perspective, the combined eCG brands have 2.19m dealer listings, with 448 million visitors accessing our motors sites around the world. Some astonishing statistics. Feedback from dealers is critical to the platform’s success. Since its launch I have spent countless hours on the road, meeting with dealers and asking for Traction
their feedback. To date, that feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. One of the most encouraging things I’ve heard is that dealers feel we are closing the gap on Carsales. All are happy that we can offer them an alternate sales tool. One dealer told me they feel like “there is now a Woolworths and a Coles in town”. That’s certainly positive and pleasing to hear and such feedback is supported by our growing audience numbers, with a lot of dealers now “leaning in”. Dealers have also told me that our platform’s subscription model helps them better forecast their costs and that our fees are on-point and only a fraction of others in the marketplace. Another win! One benefit that really appears to resonate is the strategy to withhold listings from platforms other than the Autotrader Group for a select period.
Only if the car is not receiving a good run rate of leads can be listed elsewhere. It is the ultimate test for our platform and an area in which we are excelling. Dealers are ecstatic that they have a chance to sell at a fraction of the cost and leverage a bigger ‘open’ platform helping to deliver more valuable walk-ins. All very pleasing and reassuring feedback that certainly indicates we are on the right track. Though Autotrader Group is naturally still developing as a platform, I am excited by the possibilities of where we can progress to in the future. I look forward to sharing more updates with you as we continue on our Autotrader Group journey. Richard Dicello.
Q1 2021
31
