August update from our CEO, Nathan Coe
I hope that you, your family and colleagues are all safe and well and that you’ve managed to enjoy a break at some point over the summer. After a challenging April and May, the strong demand and pricing in the past few months has been a very welcome change. It seems inevitable that while we will see steps forward and positive changes to how we operate, there’s likely to be local restrictions impacting our social lives in specific areas.
I’m glad to be able to share that consumer demand levels on our site remain very encouraging. This suggests that recent performance is driven by more than just a spike due to pent up demand during the national lockdown. All audience metrics are showing significant year on year increases and leads remain at record levels with no signs of this abating. Equally, we have not seen a material impact on audience performance in regions where local restrictions have been implemented. Whilst there is some uncertainty over demand when the government gradually unwinds support for businesses from October onwards, we do not see any indicators of this in our data as yet.
At the time, our data suggested that the July pricing crash predicted by many was unlikely, this proved to be the case and since that time we have seen record growth in prices. Prices in July were up by 4.6% and they are tracking up 6.6% so far during August. This is based on retailer price adjustments on our platform. We represent your view of pricing in the market, we observe millions of vehicles, process 800,000 relevant vehicle observations and track 90,000 advert updates every day. We have now seen an unprecedented 15 consecutive weeks of price growth and hope that this continues to underwrite the positive performance that many retailers have seen.
Other headlines include:
Audience remains at all-time highs, with 28.6% more visits to Auto Trader platforms than at the same time last year during August (July visits were up 23%), these levels of growth are significantly higher than we have seen at any time in the past few years;
Consumer engagement is strong, with time spent on Auto Trader at 7.9 million hours; again up 25% year on year so far in August
We continue to deliver more leads than ever to retailers, with lead growth at 65.7% and positive sentiment from retailers on the conversion of these leads
As we gradually see a return to more normal trading conditions, we are increasingly looking to the future and how we can support you. This week, for example, we’re testing a Home Delivery filter in our search experience. It’s a small test but will be significant in understanding how consumer behaviour has changed over recent months and how the appetite for services such as Home Delivery has evolved. We’ll be sure to share the results of this test with you in coming weeks. We expect to see more changes in the months ahead and want to ensure that you can be on the front foot to take advantage of these opportunities.
In other developments, the current 75% discount on additional stock* has another 2 weeks to run, this will be the longest stock discount we’ve ever run, at almost 6 months. It’s likely to be some time before we are able to offer these discounts again and so do ensure you have all of your stock visible to consumers over the months ahead. It’s more important than ever, as consumers shift more of their shopping online, that your vehicles are in front of the most engaged buyers and that your adverts truly reflect the services you offer. With 75% of all time spent on automotive sites being on Auto Trader, there isn’t an easier way to get your vehicles in front of buyers.
I’d also encourage you to visit our Retailer Hub and utilise products such as Market Insight, which come at no extra cost and give you access to unique data and insight to help you to win in your local market. I hope that we can continue to support you to navigate the current market. As always, if you have thoughts or feedback to share, please do not hesitate to get in touch directly or to contact the team. Thank you for your continued support.
Best wishes to you, your families and employees.
Nathan