Lockdown browsers search for their next buy

Used car marketplace heycar has revealed it is experiencing a surge of interest from ‘lockdown browsers’ who are turning to the internet to plan their next motor purchase.

Sincethepandemicforced the majority of the population indoors and closed the nation’s car dealerships, the industry has been working out new ways to keep going.

At the same time interest in cars - especially used cars - has surged online, with heycar website traffic spiking by 87 per cent since the first week of April.

However, maintaining interest is key. Reactive measures on the heycar site to keep a pipeline of customers for the future have included a ‘register interest’ button on all makes and models, allowing heycar and the relevant dealership to keep in touch until the time is right to buy.

Since being introduced to the site at the beginning of April, there has been a 46 per cent increase in users signalling their interest.

And, according to a recent survey, almost one in five car buyers are poised to make a purchase as soon as COVID-19 lockdown is lifted.

Chief Commercial Officer at heycar, Karen Hilton, believes savvy online dealerships who take the time to nurture prospective customers in the medium term will emerge stronger from the Coronavirus crisis.

Since launching in August last year, heycar has signed up more than 3,700 dealerships nationwide to its network, with more than 200,000 cars on site.

In terms of what the public are browsing while on lockdown, the luxury end of the market dominates. The top five brands viewed this month on heycar were Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen and Ford.

Karen Hilton adds: “Dealers who have warm leads can use this time to educate their customers on purchase options, finance and even the delivery options currently on offer.

“Get to know the customer and their circumstances, that way you’ll know when they are in the position to buy.”