The rise of the “recreation van”
With more and more private and personal buyers searching Auto Trader for a van, it’s become more important for van retailers to ensure their adverts are tailored to these types of buyers.
According to research into the van buyer conducted by Auto Trader, it was found that 42% of vans are used for private usage. 1 in 4 of those privately owned vans were used for leisure in 2020. This has grown significantly from 9% 2019.
Sessions on Auto Trader Vans are continuing to perform well, and the number of unique visitors to the platform over the last quarter is up significantly versus 2019 (up 44% vs 2019 and up 33% vs 2020), showing the market has got bigger. Further to this, a recent survey showed that 60% of visitors looking to buy are looking for their first van, a clear signal that there is plenty of new opportunity in the market.
In addition to this, we have seen that over recent years, there has been a surge in audience over the 8 week period during July and August. Sessions have increased by an average of 28% in the lead up to the new registration. So, with almost 40% of personal buyers spending only a month choosing their van, now is the time to ensure your adverts are suitable for these consumers.
Auto Trader remains the number one choice for searching for vans amongst personal buyers and information from the dealer is one of the key influences of decision making for personal buyers. These are consumers rather than business buyers, and they need additional help and reassurance to get them through the van purchase process. Here are some ideas for how this can be achieved:
Be transparent about pricing
When researching their purchase, 86% of personal buyers are concerned about being “ripped off”. That’s why is important to be very clear on things like VAT and Admin Fees on your adverts.
Make it easy
Let people get in touch with you how and when they want by enabling text and chat. Also, feature home services such as home delivery, click and collect and live video walk around to allow buyers to purchase how they prefer.
Offer reassurance and build trust
32% of personal buyers say that information from the dealer helps their choice. To tackle a lot of the pain points, you can provide buyers with additional support. Make the advert clear with multiple images and video and include a bespoke, thorough description as well as use the attention grabber to differentiate between other vehicles. Build trust by showing a full vehicle history check and surface reviews online about your dealership for buyers to read.
For further information into the van buyer research, read the report here, and for further support on how to improve your advertising, request a callback from an Account Manager here.