The Future of Automotive Ecommerce Belongs to Those with the Best Data

Don’t let the Carvana collapse fool you. The automotive ecommerce market is very much alive and growing. Case in point: the global automotive e-commerce market is projected to grow from $75 billion in 2022 to $213 billion by 2029.

And while there are plenty of drivers behind this growth (the pandemic stands out), the main one is this: today’s average consumer wants a simpler, clearer car buying process.

Here, we’ll highlight how accurate automotive data satisfies that demand for car buyers and improves the buying process for everyone – from consumers to dealerships to advertisers.

The 3 Car Buyer Personas of Today’s Automotive Ecommerce World

For both dealerships and automotive advertisers, understanding buyer personas is critical to marketing car listings effectively and driving sales. And while there are general trends in today’s online car buying process – for example, 79 percent of consumers referenced third-party automotive sites in 2022 – the buying journey changes based on the individual buyer.

So let’s dig into the three common buyer personas and what they value most.

Buyer Persona #1: The Breakdown Buyer

This buyer is purchasing a vehicle because their old one broke down and they need something fast. They may not spend as much time researching as the average car buyer (who used nearly five websites in 2022). The Breakdown Buyer wants a plug-and-play option. They want a new vehicle in days – even hours – not weeks. The Breakdown Buyer needs up-to-date automotive listings.

Buyer Persona #2: The Deal Hunter

The Deal Hunter doesn’t mind waiting. They have a reliable form of transportation already, and they’re in this buying process as they strategically consider their next purchase. Whether they’re spending hours researching the different transmissions of a specific model or scanning websites like Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book for pricing insights, the Deal Hunter will make a decision when they’re good and ready. What the Deal Hunter values most is accurate data on pricing, availability, mileage, and other vehicle specs so they can find the best value for their money.

Buyer Persona #3: The Collector

The Collector has their eye on specific makes and models. They know what they want and what to search for. Once they’ve found the right vehicle, they act quickly. Similar to the Deal Hunter in this sense, the Collector has a clear set of “wants” for their vehicle. But where the Deal Hunter’s main focus is value, the Collector’s focus can vary, from exhaust systems to original detailing. That’s why the Collector values automotive listings that have comprehensive vehicle specifications.

Real-Time Automotive Data Benefits Advertisers, Dealers, and Every Type of Car Buyer

Though each car buyer persona has a unique focus during their buying journey, there’s one way to serve them all: share accurate, updated automotive data.

Here’s how that works. Let’s say you’re an automotive advertiser. Hundreds of users visit your site every day. Most of your listings come from your dealer partners. Other listings come from an assortment of in-house web scraping and paid dealer management system (DMS) feeds.

But you want to improve your operation. You contact a web scraping firm that can efficiently extract thousands of automotive listings from different dealership sites and help you upload them to your site. It’s far cheaper than paying for DMS feeds and it gives you something you need: an inventory of up-to-date automotive listings.

This live automotive data is often the difference between making a sale and making a car buyer frustrated. Advertisers don’t want to share expired listings on their site. And prospective car buyers certainly don’t want to encounter them. With the right web scraping partner, you can rest assured knowing that the listings you post are accurate enough for the Breakdown Buyers of the world and filled with all the information even the most diligent Collectors and Deal Hunters could want.

That’s how dealerships and car buyers benefit from your automotive data scraping. Buyers go to your site to access live listings with clear vehicle specifications. After finding a vehicle they like, the buyer (often) travels to the dealership. The dealership makes the sale. Everyone wins.

A Growing Demand for Automotive Data: Business Intelligence

Accurate automotive data is the bedrock for any successful automotive ecommerce player. And that data doesn’t just prove its value when it comes time to populate an advertising site with live listings. It can also lay the foundation for any business intelligence efforts.

A business intelligence tool that aggregates thousands of active car listings and applies an analytics layer (visualizations, complex filtering, etc.) to that data could be the answer.

Though necessary, large quantities of raw automotive data won’t tell you anything quickly. There’s too much of it. But with the right business intelligence tool, you can gather automotive insights in a matter of seconds.

Maybe you run a dealership and want to know which of your competitors have cars flying off the lot – or what they’re charging. Maybe you’re a manufacturer generating user insights and want to know how popular an older model is on the used car market. The answers to those questions lie in the data that auto scraping firms extract, refine, and share every day.

So as you search for the right automotive data scraping partner, ask what else they’re doing with the listings they scrape. Some firms don’t have plans to evolve beyond strictly providing data. Others, like us, have a roadmap that includes layering custom business intelligence tools on top of the data.

The end result: delivering valuable custom insights to any player in the automotive ecommerce space.

Accurate Automotive Data Is a Need – Not a Want

The data you publish says just as much as the messages you share with your customers. An updated automotive listing with accurate information says “we care about your buying journey and want to help.”

It’s easy to focus on the presentation of your advertising site – the colors, the logo, the font – while deprioritizing the content. But in a crowded automotive ecommerce space, accurate data stands out. It’s the lifeblood of your site, and it powers the transactions that keep buying cycles going.

Clear, up-to-date automotive data is a necessity if you want to create a better product for your customers. Interested in learning how Aspen Tech Labs can help you improve with automotive data scraping and business intelligence tools? Shoot us a message.