One might ask why a brand like Auto Trader needs to do anything trailblazing. Not only has it been voted an e-superbrand for its online business, but also the tenth most trusted brand in a YouGov poll. It pulled in a personal record of 6.8 million unique users in a month last year and, financially, it says it makes more for owner Guardian Media Group than the rest of its digital publishing business combined. Auto Trader made over £50m from its digital operations last year. And, the most important test, where would you go to sell a car online? Yet, determined that it doesn't rest on its laurels, Autotrader.co.uk has been revamped to attract more users and advertiser leads.
CEO Jerry Fowden says: "The revamp is all about meeting customer needs. The buzzwords are functionality and choice, making navigation easier and less cluttered, even as traffic and services grow. The refreshed site makes this so easy that users don't even have to think about it. There's a growing breed of new online competitors: Google with Froogle; eBay auctions and classifieds; and Yahoo. But, when you look at our stats, there's no comparison."
Number crunching reveals 434,000 vehicles for sale on the site at any one time - more than half of all vehicles being sold. There are about 18,500 dealers in the UK and Auto Trader trades with 95 per cent of them.
Research has taught Auto Trader what people want. They can pull up cars on a search, with four bullet points detailing mileage, age and other vital stats. The next enhancement will be interrogative search, including a lifestyle search that will ask buyers details like whether they drive on country lanes or motorways and how many kids they have. "The search will bring up not only the answers you thought you wanted, but also those to questions you hadn't even thought of," Fowden promises.
But, where Auto Trader is really leading the way is in offering a range of services for its partners. About 75-80 per cent of its customers are dealers, with private buyers and sellers making up the rest, so the web site offers services to help dealers manage their business, and, ultimately, sell more cars. Traders with hundreds of cars to sell can hold information on their stock and export it to Auto Trader, with photos taken by a professional.
Trader Group owns a bundle of related businesses that feed into its dealer services. Contact Advantage allows them to track customer activity from initial interest in the showroom, which prompts the relevant salesman to respond, triggering email alerts for appropriate actions, like a test-drive. It even nudges follow-up service a year after purchasing. This system is mandatory in UK Porsche dealerships and it has seen sales rise dramatically.
Last August, Auto Trader moved into a new vertical sector with the acquisition of venture Thinkproperty.com. This competitive sector might do well to take its new entrant very seriously.