STRATEGY GUIDE
Tips to prevent aging (inventory)
Is your inventory starting to show its age? As the industry stabilizes, a surge in new car inventory (+24.4% YoY)1 has made dealer lots across the country look full and vibrant again. But with rising prices slowing consumer demand, affordability concerns have caused new, used, and EV inventory to age on lots nationwide.
To give your turn rate the boost it needs, we recommend a proven, age-defying regimen: focus on reaching verified, local in-market shoppers across channels, paired with updated messaging to counter the affordability narrative, and a merchandising makeover to help your aged units shine.
On average, dealers who list their inventory to in-market shoppers on Cars.com and power their website experience with Dealer Inspire already accelerate their turn time by 20%2. That’s a major reduction in aging simply from adopting our solutions — but this guide will go deeper into the merchandising and media optimizations you can make on top of that to impact your turn time even more in this current market.
Ready to revitalize your inventory? Let’s dive deep into strategies that can turn back the clock on your lot.
The AI-powered anti-aging solution
To effectively combat aging inventory and maintain a healthy turn rate, you need a proactive marketing strategy that ensures your oldest VINs are consistently exposed to interested in-market shoppers.
By leveraging VIN Performance Media, you can dynamically recommend your VINs to shoppers you know are interested — because they’re researching the same or similar models on Cars.com — and then stay with them across channels until they buy.
If there are segments of inventory you would like to prioritize — like VINs that have been on your lot for over 30 days — the machine-learning AI powering VIN Performance Media will more heavily weight the promotion of those aging units to generate the demand you need to move them.
And to make the most of every dollar, the AI automatically optimizes your budget across search, social, and display to drive more leads at the lowest cost.
The market is always moving, and there are always new challenges coming up for you to solve at the dealership, so VIN Performance Media is a great way for you to know your advertising is always automatically adapting in the background to get the right VINs in front of the right shoppers.
For example, a Honda dealer in upstate New York recently adjusted their strategy to prioritize VINs that had passed their 30th birthday on the lot. By driving a 50% increase in VDP views for older vehicles that were previously not getting enough engagement to move, the dealership was able to significantly decrease the average age of their used and CPO inventory with VIN Performance Media.
Rejuvenate sales with assured affordability messaging
Affordability is a major contributing factor to vehicles growing older on dealer lots. With prices still elevated since the pandemic and the resulting shortage, many consumers are hesitant to take on their next vehicle purchase.
Consider updating your messaging and website experience to address those affordability concerns head-on. Educating consumers on the factors that go into their monthly payments (including current incentives and rebates) and giving them the ability to explore their personalized payment options online can suddenly make your inventory look a lot more attainable, while also converting high-intent leads for your team to follow-up on.
To engage budget-conscious shoppers, consider updating your messaging to focus on:
- Empowerment: Highlight that shoppers are in control of their buying experience. Inviting them to explore personalized payment options will engage a broader audience of uncertain but curious consumers, who your team can then guide to the best option for them.
- Flexible options: Emphasize the variety of choices available, including new, used, and certified pre-owned vehicles. Position your dealership and team as expert partners in finding the right vehicle for their budget and needs.
- Transparency: Assure customers of a straightforward buying process with no hidden fees or surprises. This builds trust and helps alleviate the concerns of affordability-conscious buyers — which will encourage them to explore their options with your team.
By focusing on these elements in your advertising and website messaging, you can engage more budget-conscious shoppers, more deeply. And the more demand you’re able to generate, the faster vehicles will move off your lot.
Give your aging inventory a face lift
To rejuvenate your aging inventory and boost its appeal to in-market shoppers, it’s essential to focus on merchandising your vehicles effectively. Taking the time and care to consider how you’re presenting these vehicles can make a big difference in whether shoppers click on your vehicles or keep on scrolling by.
- Refresh photos: A picture is worth a thousand seller notes, so it’s really important that your aging VINs look their very best in your inventory photos. Consider whether you can retake their first photos in particular to make a better first impression, and we recommend including at least 20 photos for used cars to inspire consumer confidence with a transparent look at all angles inside and outside the car.
- Leverage video: Add videos to your aged inventory listings to provide a deeper and more dynamic look than other vehicles the shopper may be considering. By the same principle of adding more photos, videos give shoppers even more buying confidence that what they’ll see online and is what they’ll get in-store.
- Write better descriptions: Avoid generic, all-caps feature lists with excessive exclamation points — which may not come across as believable or trustworthy to some consumers. Instead, provide straight-foward, detailed descriptions that highlight each vehicle’s unique qualities and history.
- Update specials pages: Often one of the most visited pages on your website, your specials page is a critical place to properly merchandise your aging VINs as affordable options with some “why buy now” urgency.
- Streamline your CTAs: Remove unnecessary buttons, links, and widgets from your VDPs to focus on higher converting retailing and messaging actions that put your shopping experience front and center. Start by considering what one or two paths you’d prefer shoppers to take — and then start eliminating all others that may distract from those.
Take a fresh look at your listings and your website through the eyes of a budget-conscious, and consider what you would want to see — and be able to do — to be confident in taking next steps with your dealership. Our team is here to help with optimizations, creative messaging, and technology solutions to turn affordability concerns into conversions.
Keep your pulse on industry trends
To make sure your strategy stays aligned with the market, stay connected to the trends and consumer behaviors that impact your business. The Cars Commerce industry insights report is a free monthly publication that provides you with the latest data and insights, and you can subscribe to be among the first to get each new edition.
Take years days off your inventory
Want to learn more about how Cars Commerce can help prevent inventory aging with audience, technology, and marketing solutions?
Get in touch with our team today!
1 Cars Commerce Industry Insights Report, May 2024
2 Comparison of Cars.com base package customers vs. Cars.com customers with at least one additional platform solution, such as websites, trade-in, finance, and reputation.
3 Comparing the avg. increase in VINs that are sold after a Cars.com lead, phone call, chat, or website deep link for customers that add VIN Performance Media to their marketplace subscription, October 2023 – March 2024
4 Cost Per Click (CPC) comparison of VIN Performance Media customers between 30-90 days of AI optimization vs. more than 90 days of AI optimization, October 2023 – March 2024
