Why Faster Time-to-Market for Vehicle Inventory Benefits Auto Dealerships

As a dealership, getting a customer’s attention before your competitors do is a lot like running a race. One small advantage and a fraction of a second is all it takes to separate the winners from the losers. That’s why it’s so important for your inventory to be online and looking good as quickly as possible is as important as anything else.

The truth is, auto dealerships that have a rapid time-to-market for their vehicle inventory are likely to generate more leads, close more sales, and build better engagement with customers. This can be attributed to several key factors that make a difference in the automotive industry, which we’ll cover below in more detail – so you can make the best decisions possible to boost your dealership’s leads and sales as quickly as you can.

It’s no secret that a dealership with a fast time-to-market for their vehicle inventory is more likely to get noticed by potential customers. The thing is, it can be tricky – you need to get everything photographed as fast as possible, and make sure those photos make it to your site and third-parties equally fast. There are certainly software solutions that can help with this, and having an on-staff photographer or a reliable and consistent photography partner in place, you can reap the benefits of a quick time-to-market. 

By quickly adding new vehicles to your inventory online, you can attract the attention of customers who are looking for the latest models and technology, and more directly align with the interests of people searching online for vehicles. As inventory shortage issues begin to clear up and new car inventory increases, this is only going to become more important. The net benefit of speed, though, is still increased visibility and more leads, as potential customers are more likely to take an interest in what you’re offering (and your competitors might be missing out on).

Put simply, dealerships that have a fast time-to-market for their vehicle inventory can also build better engagement with customers. When dealerships are able to quickly add new vehicles to their inventory, they are able to provide customers with up-to-date information about the latest models and technology. This helps to establish a connection with customers, build trust, and increase the likelihood of closing a sale.

The good news is there are many ways you can boost this engagement once your inventory does hit the web, including SMS message options. Also, if you have video incorporated into your strategy, the sooner those videos hit your site or Youtube, the sooner you can see the SEO benefits of the video – and since plenty of customers skip paid ads and prefer organic search results to find what they’re looking for, you’ll have a better chance of being seen and beating out your competition.

One of the benefits that doesn’t come up a lot when you talk about time-to-market (but it should) is the ability for dealerships to streamline their sales process. The faster your inventory hits the web, the faster you can respond to customer inquiries, schedule test drives, and move potential customers through the buying process. Since customers have so many options and seem to make decisions on purchases faster now than ever before, this can lead to a faster sales cycle and ultimately result in more sales for your dealership.

Obviously, workflow matters here as well. You need to make sure your team is able to quickly communicate internally as well, which is another reason to regularly re-evaluate your inventory management platform so everyone can get the info they need rapidly – from the initial lead or customer contact to the close of the sale and beyond. But when these systems are working in harmony, your sales team can operate like a well-oiled machine.

Finally, a fast time-to-market for vehicle inventory can help to reduce the total cost to a dealership to sell a car. That might go without saying, but it’s not always something dealers think about when they’re adjusting or improving their workflows to get inventory online quickly. 

By quickly adding new vehicles to your inventory, you’re able to avoid the costs associated with holding onto vehicles for extended periods of time (which is something we’ve written about before). Additionally, by streamlining the sales process, dealerships can reduce the amount of time and resources they need to invest in each sale, further reducing their costs. So there’s a pretty clear benefit when it comes to your bottom line: move vehicles faster, spend less to store and maintain them, and drive more volume.