How to use Geofencing to deliver a personalized website experience

Creating personalized shopping experiences on your website isn’t just “nice-to-have” — it’s essential. Modern car shoppers are accustomed to tailored interactions, whether they’re shopping online or scrolling through social media. Bringing that level of personalization to your dealership website not only meets these expectations but also helps build trust, increase engagement, and improve conversion rates.

Dealer Inspire’s personalization technology makes it simple to deliver seamless, tailored experiences. By leveraging visitor data — such as previous shopping history, referral sources, or even local weather conditions — you can create unique interactions that resonate with every shopper, all managed easily within your website’s backend.



One of the most impactful ways to personalize your website is through geofencing. When a website visitor has allowed the sharing of their location data¹, this innovative feature allows you to craft hyper-relevant website experiences that speak directly to a shopper’s geographic context. It’s a powerful way to connect with potential buyers at key moments, helping you stand out and turn casual visitors into your next customers.

What is geofencing and how does it work?

Geofencing is a location-based technology that allows you to create virtual boundaries around geographic areas, enabling you to deliver tailored messaging to website visitors within those zones. By targeting buyers based on their physical location, Geofencing enhances your ability to capture attention and influence decisions.

So, how does it work in practice? Start by identifying the purpose of your geofenced experience and the outcome you want to achieve.

For example, with the average price of a new car reaching $49,000², shoppers are more motivated than ever to find the best deal — even while standing on a competitor’s lot. By creating geofences around competing dealerships, you can communicate directly with these customers as they cross-shop on your website, delivering messages that position your dealership as the better choice, such as:

• Highlighting your competitive pricing to attract deal-seeking buyers
• Showcasing loyalty programs to emphasize added value
• Featuring your excellent reviews to build trust and credibility
• Reinforcing your unique “why buys” to convert undecided shoppers

Targeting shoppers in these key moments moves them from consideration to action, turning browsers into buyers.

Here’s how you can build this very experience on your website.

How to build a personalized experience with geofencing

Ready to start crafting your own campaign-based personalizers on your Dealer Inspire website? Let’s dive in! Follow these steps to create a VRP personalizer using UTM parameters.

More Geofencing ideas to get you started

Now let’s explore more real-world scenarios to see how Geofencing can impact critical customer moments. One of the best things about our Personalizer tool is that there is no limit to the number of personalizers you can create. Before you create a Personalizer, think about what you aim to accomplish. What is your mission, strategy, and desired outcome?  Here are a few ideas to get you started.

1. Local community heroes

Honor those who serve your community by offering first responders, medical workers, teachers, and more a special discount to show your appreciation and dedication to the community.

• The mission: Spread awareness of a special discount for local community heroes.
• The geofence: Local police stations, fire departments, hospitals, and schools.
• The outcome: Become the go-to dealership for your hometown heroes.

2. Target trade-ins

Create a geofence around your entire dealership to ensure customers walking your lot or waiting in your service lounge are encouraged to get trade-in appraisal with your team.

• The mission: Get your team more vehicles to appraise.
• The geofence: You entire dealership and lot.
• The outcome: Less reliance on wholesale auctions by maximizing customer acquisitions.

3. Special events

Do you sponsor any ongoing local events or sports teams? Set up geofences around those areas to serve relevant promotions and special incentives for those in attendance.

• The mission: Create dealership loyalty within your community.
• The geofence: Wherever you have ongoing, local sponsorships.
• The outcome: Additional shoppers on your site and dealership awareness.

Create the personalized experience they expect

With Dealer Inspire’s Personalizer tool, you can create highly targeted, personalized experiences that resonate with your shoppers. By leveraging visitor signals and tools like Geofencing, you can turn your website into a powerful, tailored experience that captures attention and drives meaningful results. Get started today to turn your website into a lasting experience with your online car shoppers.

 ¹Website visitors must explicitly agree to share their location for geofenced experiences to perform properly on Dealer Inspire websites

 ²Cars Commerce Industry Insights Report, October 2024