Dealership Websites Will Be Obsolete by 2020

A Comprehensive Mobile-First Strategy Is Key To Thriving in the Face of the Web-Apocalypse

Digital marketing tech expert says 80% of dealership websites with slow loading time and awkward designs are predicted to be obsolete by 2020.

The website has become the single most crucial channel of direct communications between car dealers and a prime targeted buying audience.

Firstly, according to Lyamen Savy, Founder and CEO of 321 Ignition, a market-making digital auto sales platform launched this summer, 80% of all auto dealership websites will be obsolete by 2020.  

Secondly, maturing millennials and the growing number of Generation Z car buyers will reject websites with frustrating functionality. They will say no to sites lacking customizable tools and transparent pricing.

Thirdly, despite the belief that younger generations are not interested in buying cars, they are currently part of a more significant car-buying segment than the industry has seen since the baby boomers.

Generation Z comprises 32% of the U.S. population and enamored by ride-sharing. They are generally open to the idea of self-driving cars, especially in urban environments, yet less receptive to vehicle subscription and fractional ownership schemes.

Dealership Websites—Make it Meaningful

In other words, younger buyers are absolutely in agreement about meaningful, well planned and highly functional mobile-first website resources to help them choose their vehicle and make their purchase.

"We can smell a bad mobile experience within seconds," Savy said.

Auto dealerships that perpetuate antiquated online technology solutions, will continue to lose ground with successive waves of new buyers.

This trend will worsen the competitive positioning of car dealerships because of a softening auto market and calendar-driven drop-offs. In September, there was a 13% percent decline in year-over-year sales.

"If your website is old-school, like most of the dealer websites out there, you just can not be competitive in 2020," Savy said.

Savy is a digital marketing rock star working with some of the biggest online campaigns in America. She urges car dealers to think about their buyers and says people her age and younger do everything on their mobile phones. 

For example, if a website is confusing, doesn't have customizable tools or just looks bad in any way, it will lose younger buyers.

"We bounce off immediately and we'll never come into your dealership because you made a bad first impression online," Savy said.

How Dealership Website Load Speeds Impact Sales  

The stark reality of website load speeds came into sharp focus when 321 Ignition released a software update. The software increases showroom traffic, reduces marketing costs, and delivers unit sales increases by up to 24%. 

321 Ignitions new software update features increased website load speeds that significantly surpass the standards of the auto dealership industry. In other words, based on on-going testing against other dealership websites, 321 Ignition powered sites load faster than 80% of their competitors.

• 47% of users expect websites to load in under two seconds.
• 57% of users abandon pages with load times of 3 seconds or more.
• 75% of online customers will switch to a competitor’s site with faster load speed. 

In addition, the latest software update assures dealerships that more smartphone prospects will find their sites organically.  As a result, metrics from 321 Ignition indicate online visitors have faster, frustration-free experiences. They stay on dealership websites longer and keep returning several times as they research the best buying opportunities. 

Millennials & Gen Zers Rely on Online Research and Smartphones to Improve In-Store Experience and Increase Their Confidence

They spend over 4 months and a total of 14.5 hours on the car buying process. Out of that— up to 9 hours—is spent online researching to improve their in-store experience.

The 321 Ignition platform uses design and functionality to offer enterprise-class digital marketing capabilities. This helps them maximize customer contacts and increase sales conversions for new and pre-owned dealerships.

Informed consumers are looking for special offers and incentives. They want to sort car models, trim levels, safety features quickly, and learn about warranty protection. These are all details the 321 Ignition incorporates, organizes, and delivers dealership websites.

These factors result in record-breaking automotive sales and online marketing capabilities. This allows dealerships to power through market slowdowns. Therefore, meeting and beating sales projections.

To make her point, Savy is making a bold proposal to dealerships across the country. 

Her proposal is to show dealerships what their website will look like on 321's modern, mobile-first platform.

"I’ll get my designers to create a functioning demo of your website so you can see with your own eyes how much better the user experience is," Savy said.

In other words, no charge, no hard-sell, just a front seat view of the transformation. Above all, Savy wants owners and general managers to see how their dealership website looks and functions on 321's mind blowing mobile-first platform. Then they can make their decision.

In addition, Savy will offer a Google analytics review of current dealership sites that points out necessary key metrics. Metrics are often overlooked by less sophisticated technology providers. The review includes a realistic projection of the dramatic improvements dealerships can expect.

"I just want dealership decision-makers to see just how many sales they are leaving on the table," Savy said.

Fair and transparent pricing
for a game-changing website platform

In conclusion, the 321 CEO promises more and better-qualified leads pouring in through the website ready to convert to sales.