There is plenty of reason to look at e-commerce and think of it as a market whose growth is only beginning. An internet marketing agency for car dealerships will tell you the same thing, so for website optimization, you should pay attention to the technological advances that are driving this foray into online shopping. With more people getting comfortable searching for things online and conceivably buying them without ever leaving their living rooms, your website needs to have the features that customers have come to expect.
The Importance of the Mobile Site User
Some time ago, mobile website browsing overtook the “traditional” kind done on a laptop or desktop. It was understood that going forward, it would be incumbent upon site administrators to make sure the mobile experience was an easy and a pleasant one for the potential customer using a smartphone. It is still true that more purchases are made through a laptop or a desktop. The conclusion is that visitors to a website are more likely to be gathering information about a product or service using their phone, and they’ll make the purchase once they get home. That means that your mobile site should be optimized and correctly formatted. Otherwise, you’ll alienate potential customers.
Analytics in E-Commerce
The other aspect of e-commerce on which we wanted to touch was that of analytics. You doubtless already know the importance of analytics for optimizing your website. You can look at which pages are getting the most views, which ones need to be reinvigorated with keyword usage, etc. But if you have an e-commerce platform on your website, then you need a built-in analytics system there as well. This is crucial for improving your conversion rate. By collecting relevant data you learn about your customers, and you’ll know how best to attract them in the future.
Why This Matters For Car Dealerships
You might feel like this information is extraneous because people don’t buy cars online. They want to come into the dealership and test drive them first, so why should you care about having an e-commerce aspect to your website? The answer is that your site is like the digital shop window of your dealership. It’s true that someone isn’t going to go to your website and purchase a car with the click of a button. However, there are likely all sorts of other automotive products and services that a person might buy online, with the expectation of then having them delivered or coming to the store and picking them up. Even if no actual purchase is made, you’ll still benefit from having innovative features that are intrinsic to e-commerce, like a real-time chat feature to discuss a car in which a customer has an interest. Most of your business may be done at the dealership, but you still need to have an eye on e-commerce. It matters for every business, and it is not to be overlooked.
