Retail in Asia

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‘Showrooming’ going mainstream in automative retail

Majority of auto shoppers (81 percent) now use smartphones to do research when purchasing a vehicle, while a quarter (25 percent) conduct research using a smartphone only, prior to visiting a dealership, an independent study commissioned by Cars.com reveals.

Seventy-two percent of mobile auto shoppers were also found to be more likely to visit an additional dealership than shoppers who did not use a smartphone. Of shoppers who visited more than one dealership, more than half (52 percent) did so because of information gathered on their mobile device.

"In the same way online advertising revolutionized the automotive retail industry over the past decade, mobile shopping has exploded in just the past year, fundamentally changing the way dealers need to engage with customers," said Alex Vetter, senior vice president at Cars.com. "Retailers should take immediate action to make mobile a cornerstone of their marketing strategy or risk losing out to mobile-savvy competitors."

The study examined survey response and location data from more than 500 participants following visits to automotive dealerships, through the Placed smartphone app.

"There’s been similar research around showrooming across other retail categories, but this is the first time anyone has been able to look quantitatively at mobile consumer behavior within automotive with this level of detail," said David Shim, Founder and CEO at Placed. "A vehicle is one of the largest retail purchases a consumer makes, so it’s understandable that shoppers use every resource available – including their smartphone – to make what is often a very complex, calculated decision."