Over 80 per cent of car buyers engage in online 'showrooming' before making their purchase. This is one of the many findings of the 'Road from research to purchase' report by consultancy firm Amas on behalf of Carzone.ie. This 'showrooming' can take many forms, with 73 per cent of respondents saying they spent their time on Carzone researching a purchase, 64 per cent checking on prices and 30 per cent reading reviews. The report also shows that visitors spend an average of 12.2 minutes per visit on Carzone.ie, almost four times longer than they do on car manufacturer websites.
"Users are learning a lot more about what they're buying before they buy it," says Tracey Kenny, Carone.ie's head of display marketing. Users are not only accessing sites such as Carzone.ie when they are about to buy a car but as a larger "research to purchase" cycle - finding out all they can about prices, specifications, stock levels etc. sometimes months in advance of an actual purchase.
Smartphones are increasingly becoming a vital part of a car buyer's arsenal (hardly surprising when 62 per cent of adults own one) with the vast majority of buyers using their smartphone as their primary research device. Some buyers even use their smartphone while standing on a dealer forecourt to see whether the car in front of them is as good a deal as the salesman is making out.
While that may be true of some users Carzone.ie says its busiest times coincide with peak TV viewing times. This suggests the purchase process is influenced by "media meshing" or "double screening" - looking something up online having seen an advert for it on TV. We reckon this is probably more a case of the 72 per cent of Carzone.ie users who are male avoiding Corrie or Eastenders with some good old fashioned 'if I win the lottery' shopping!
Anything else?
Commenting on the findings, Ms Kenny said: "This study offers a local perspective on trends that have emerged in other markets on the role of the internet in consumer research and buying patterns. Since a car is the second largest purchase that Irish consumers are likely to make, the findings provide an insight that will be of relevance to both car and non-car related brands looking to attract an engaged consumer audience."