Third Party Stock/Inventory Data Feeds

1 minute read

All dealers know that the the bigger the forecourt and the more stock on show the more chance a sale will be made.  With the internet now being an everyday tool for the consumer to research their purchase before they buy most dealers have embraced the web with their very own website.  The problem lies with the brand.  The big portals and magazines/newspapers have great marketing budgets and have become the first point of call for most users.  The question is: What’s the best way to accommodate the plethora of portals, all using their own schemas and their different delivery channels?  This also becomes more difficult across multiple dealers and dealer groups.

The portal sites vary on their business model also.  Some based on a per vehicle basis and some on a per lead basis.

The main portal that almost everyone advertises with is Auto Trader.  Auto Trader works on a cost per vehicle advertised per week.  At the time of writing I believe this to be around the £4 mark, being discounted based on number of vehicles and manufacturer deals to as low as around £2.

netcars on the other hand charge on a per lead basis.  They provide the dealership with a free Non-Geographic Number (NGN), normally a local 0845 number.  This allows them to track the enquiries.  The price at the time of writing is £5 per lead.

Skupe.net on the other hand have a different variation to that of netcars.  By default there listings are free, but if you want to have a sponsored listing you appear at the top of the search results (like Google) and pay for the lead.  Depending on the lead you get, being a call (£10), email(£5) or click thru (£0.35).