"Woe is me" should not be your mindset right now!
Fact: Shopper Counts are down. Rates are still high. The average Odometer of units sold is still high. 80+% of the time, consumers purchase something different than they originally started searching for. Mobile shopping is still the highest form of tool used.
Fact: Average retail days to turn have declined. THIS IS A GREAT THING!
Consider this……with shopper counts down and average days to turn inventory from a retail standpoint, the in-market shoppers are making decisions quickly. Less ‘looky-loos’ out there.
I was recently in a meeting (October 2023) with a large domestic dealer in a very progressive and aggressive large metro market. One thing that stood out to me when conversing with them is what they are doing to combat the compression we are all feeling. Super simple. Are you ready for their secret sauce that moved their needle with 30 used retail sales in a 3-day weekend? PRICING AND MERCHANDISING BASICS. That’s it. Plain and simple. They did a #lotwalk within their virtual dealership. Something we have coached them with on a regular basis. In the previous meeting with them, I asked them a few basic questions:
Are your vehicles marked correctly with inventory color for exterior and interior?
Does your pricing strategy match how your store, in your market, with your people sell?
Have you audited your website and 3rd party sites recently to ensure ALL inventory is cascading out?
Do you need to adjust your marketing packages with your 3rd party?
Are the options correct in descriptions and do you tell the same story with the photos of the inventory?
A great friend of ours here at #LotWalk said to me one time: "You must have 1% improvement 100% of the time". How does that speak to you today? Where in your inventory and process can you find 1% improvement 100% of the time? The market has stronger in-market shoppers. Don’t be lucky. Be prepared when the opportunity presents itself. Let Lotpop look at your inventory and process with you!!!
-Chris Keene
Director of Training
ckeene@lotpop.com
*See this week's full Up Bus Newsletter HERE
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