Third-Party Automotive eCommerce Websites Must Differentiate as Satisfaction Gap Narrows Reports JD Power

Editors Note: This JD Power report gives the $450 Million purchase of automotive content rich Edmunds by CarMax a thumbs up...does your site need automotive content? The Auto Channel and its 1 million pages of content is ready to be acquired - priced to sell or lease.

TROY, Mich.-With 50% of vehicle shoppers willing to purchase online and only 8 points (on a 1,000-point scale) separating the top three performing third-party automotive websites, customer satisfaction is narrowing. According to the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Automotive Website Evaluation Study,^SM released today, the sites must work to differentiate themselves if they want to pull ahead of the pack.

“Shoppers today expect to use a website tailored to their specific interests, which has a huge impact on satisfaction,” said Jon Sundberg, director of digital solutions at J.D. Power. “We found that one-fourth of automotive shoppers do not feel they are receiving that experience. Additionally, it is imperative that third-party automotive websites get shoppers to engage with interactive tools and content on the website to provide the necessary lifts in satisfaction.”

The J.D. Power U.S. Automotive Website Evaluation Study is an annual study that measures the usefulness of automotive third-party websites during the process of shopping for a new or used vehicle by examining four key measures (in order of importance): information/content; navigation; visual appeal; and speed.

This year’s study finds that overall website satisfaction averages 628.

Study Ranking

CarMax ranks highest in website satisfaction with a score of 650. Carfax (649) ranks second and Edmunds (642) ranks third.

The U.S. Automotive Website Evaluation Study is based on responses from 4,039 vehicle shoppers who indicate they will be in the market for a new or used vehicle within the next 24 months. The study was fielded in April-May 2021.

For more information about the U.S. Automotive Website Evaluation Study, visit https://www.jdpower.com/business/automotive/us-automotive-website-evaluation-study-awes.

With the increase in consumers’ dependence on researching vehicle information during their shopping process and their ability to cross-shop websites easily, designing and maintaining effective and useful websites are critical for third-party automotive websites to retain visitors. Well-designed aspects of website appearance, navigation, and speed enhance shoppers’ ability to locate specific content, helping create loyal visitors. Understanding how shoppers perceive the usefulness of websites and what enhancements competitors are making to their websites are both essential elements of creating a satisfying website experience and building loyal visitors that help advocate your website.

The Solution

The J.D. Power U.S. Automotive Website Evaluation Study^SM (AWES) examines the features and content of third-party automotive websites across all devices that shoppers find useful and engaging when shopping for a vehicle online. This study looks at what content shoppers are using when evaluating third-party websites. AWES helps third-party automotive websites identify improvements to make their site more competitive.

The study evaluates four factors related to shoppers’ satisfaction with their experiences with these websites:

Appearance
Navigation
Speed
Information/Content

The Benefits

A study subscription provides in-depth information that will allow your company to understand how to:

Create and maintain a site that stays ahead of the curve in terms of content, appearance, navigation, and speed
Increase website effectiveness to drive visitor loyalty and advocacy
Estimate return on investment for proposed site changes and enhancements
Evaluate competitive site comparison features based on Voice of the Customer data and expert analysis
Obtain benchmarks and insights on desktop, mobile, and tablet site performance
Identify the features and content that various device users find most useful

J.D. Power’s research solutions enable third-party automotive companies to target those performance activities that have a direct impact on ROI.

FOR SALE BY OWNERS

The Auto Channel https://www.theautochannel.com

Popular Website Available For Turnkey Sale By Owners.

Online Since 1996
LLC Registered in Kentucky
The Auto Channel, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3301940
The Auto Channel URL and Complimentary URLs Registered
A 900,000 Page Parsed Automotive Content Library (Text, Video, Audio, Images)
Presently 500,000 Visitors Monthly (Past: as many as 6 -7 million visitors per month
The Auto Channel Annotations, Google Impression Count 6 Million per Month
The Auto Channel Site Ranked In Top 100,000 Worldwide (Alexa)
The Auto Channel Site Ranked In Top 25,000 in U.S.(alexa)
Domain Rating 70
Organic Referring Domains 20,000
Organic Back-Links 867,000

Comparison Rationale:

CarMax, America's number one used car dealer recently purchased Edmunds for $450 Million Dollars to guarantee them an ongoing source of proprietary editorial content, shopper research tools and dealer network. CarMax understands that web sites, the future's platform for buying and selling vehicles must meet or exceed shopper's web site expectations and offer a total end-to-end on-line encounter that deliver both top transactional plus relevant editorial.

According to Bill Nash, CarMax president and CEO: "Edmunds proprietary content, comprehensive automotive market insights and streamlined user experience across the car buying and selling journey will allow us to deepen our engagement with customers shopping online."

Your companies involvement with The Auto Channel's Name, Content and Reputation will differentiate and enhance your digital marketing efforts, customer and investor communication and competitive positioning efforts.

Accepting Offers

Robert Jay Gordon, President
bgordon@theautochannel.com

Marco J Rauch, Executive VP
mjrauch@theautochannel.com

The Auto Channel
332 West Broadway
Louisville, KY 40202