Car manufacturers and the iPhone generation

599 More

Earning the right to be successful

581 More

Knowledge is power

676 More

Selling cars – it’s all about timing

959 More

Truemag

  • Home
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • Subscribe

Retail is detail in car sales – the gimmicks seldom work


Its official dealers are telling us that the reduction in vat is having little or no affect on increasing new car sales. Buyers are confused by what it means to them and see vat as a state fine and not anything to do with real discounts. Throughout history the makeup of car sales has been about great discounts and special offers, gimmicks rarely work. If you can show a customer a real genuine financial offer they can make a considered choice and if it feels right they will often do it even if the car could be bought cheaper elsewhere. High street supermarket retailers are the very best at this with constant buy one get one free offers which may not be the reason a customer goes to the store but will often look too good to turn down. It is reckoned that major supermarkets lose money or certainly don’t make any money on everyday items such as bread, tea, coffee and sugar, but these loss leaders bring customers into the store where they will often purchase more items which are very profitable. The thinking being that by drawing buyers in with great offers the aesthetics and bargains they find in store will encourage them to spend more. That certainly seems to be borne out when you consider that when you go to a supermarket to buy maybe just tea bags and milk you invariably end up picking up a few more items that have appealed to you whilst looking for them. The shelf position of many products and the way they are displayed will be critical for stores to entice customers to spend more and these ‘hot spots’ are the places where stores will make the biggest profits and sell large volumes. If this were not the case then would stores just place the high volume essentials such as tea, coffee, milk, sugar and bread at the very front of the store by the entrance, so buyers could get exactly what they want and then just leave?

Although “buy one get one free” has been seen in certain car showrooms it is still met by many car buyers with suspicion. Either a car dealer is making way too much money from a car that he can afford to give another away free (unlikely) or the model is just not selling so must therefore be unpopular so why would a customer want to buy it? Car showrooms and used car displays are similar to supermarkets in one way and that is the idea of positioning cars in certain spots which are guaranteed to arouse interest and usually the cars that go onto these positions are the best sellers or where the most profit to be made. This is much the same as your local supermarket, where the most profitable items are usually positioned in the eye-line of customers thereby encouraging them to put them in their basket.

The best car displays are the ones where the cars are prepared and presented to the highest standards and with a mixture of colours and models. It is no secret that buyers will choose certain cars because of the way they are presented. It’s nuts and bolts marketing and the old adage is as true today as it has always been – ‘retail is detail’.

Mar 9, 2009In51der
  • After a turbulent September the hard work really begins
  • Shrinking number of used cars to retail leads to a change in thinking
  • Some car sales people still ignoring customers once the deal’s been done
  • Customer service by the book won’t work
  • Something has to give for the professional retail car buyer
  • Smoking can damage retail sales
  • Government ready to discuss helping out VauxhallUS February car sales lowest for 27 years
    In51der

    Motor Trade Insider - Bridging the gap between the customer and the Motor Trade

    13 years ago Blog, Consumer20% vat, car sales, customer service, new car buying, profit, Used car, Used car buying122
    Most viewed
    Top 100 UK Dealer Groups
    39,483 views
    The car sales process and the “9 point plan”
    11,504 views
    webuyanycar review – They will buy any car but beware of the asterisk
    6,014 views
    Most commented
    Car sales and the power of silence…
    25 Comments
    Car dealers still not prepared to play the “we buy any car” game
    23 Comments
    A Traders Tale – Part Four
    22 Comments
    Win a pre-loaded Ipod Shuffle!
    19 Comments
    Bargain of the Week – StreetKa 1.6i Luxury
    14 Comments
    Bridal Hair Berkshire
    Fox Body to 2018 Mustang Parts
    and Accessories
    About MTI

    Motor Trade Insider
    is written by people working actively in the motor trade for people on the inside and people on the outside.

    Our aims
    Build a bridge between consumers and the trade, create Interesting and informative content, break down barriers and create better understanding, expose bad practices and rip-offs and promote outstanding products and service.
    Have something to say?
    We are always looking for experienced writers who can write good original quality posts on motor-trade-insider.com. Please contact us if you would like us to consider you. Make sure you give us details of your own blog or a link to some articles you have written.
    2017 © Motor Trade Insider
    Truemag theme by StrictThemes