Almost Half of Car Shoppers Willing to Buy Online

Sun, 10 January 2021  |  transportation 

According to the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Manufacturer Website Evaluation Study,^SM only 35% of car shoppers are delaying a new-vehicle purchase due to the pandemic, which is a decrease of five percentage points from the summer of 2020. Additionally, almost half (45%) of car shoppers are willing to purchase online and as confidence in online car purchasing increases, manufacturer websites are becoming more sophisticated to meet shoppers’ expectations.

“The digital retail space continuously evolves but the pandemic forced many manufacturers to speed up the process,” said Jon Sundberg, senior manager of digital solutions at J.D. Power. “Websites are moving beyond the traditional research tools such as images and videos into a new world of allowing customers to go through the full purchase process online. Continuous updating beyond the basic research capabilities to accommodating interconnected systems which allow shoppers to purchase vehicles fully online will prove to be beneficial to shoppers and manufacturers alike.”

The J.D. Power U.S. Manufacturer Website Evaluation Study^SM—Winter is a semiannual study that measures the usefulness of automotive manufacturer websites during the process of shopping for a new vehicle by examining four key measures (in order of importance): information/content; navigation; appearance; and speed.

This year’s study finds that overall satisfaction averages 832 (on a 1,000-point scale) for the luxury segment, while the mass market segment averages 827.

Study Rankings

Land Rover ranks highest in the luxury manufacturer website segment with a score of 846. Lexus (845) ranks second and Cadillac (844) ranks third.

Jeep ranks highest in the mass market manufacturer website segment with a score of 850. Dodge (839) and Toyota (839) each rank second in a tie.

The U.S. Manufacturer Website Evaluation Study, initially released in 1999, is based on responses from 11,209 new vehicle shoppers who indicate they will be in the market for a new vehicle within the next 24 months. The study was fielded from October to November 2020.

Source: J.D. Power