Autobytel: Dealerships Thank Internet for Improved Sales

IRVINE, Calif. (Feb. 28, 2005) -- In honor of the Automotive Internet's 10th anniversary, Autobytel recently surveyed car dealerships across the country to discover the Web's impact on business. Dealers responded to the survey by saying they applaud the Internet for sales improvement across the board.

The majority of dealers said the Internet has helped to drive improvements in almost every department -- from sales and customer retention to F&I to parts and services to marketing and operations, said Autobytel officials.

According to the survey, dealers thank the Internet for lowering marketing and sales costs (66 percent), improving customer retention (84 percent), making it easier to manage customer information (92 percent), retaining more sales customers (78 percent), retaining more service customers (53 percent), increasing the number of financing customers (65 percent) and improving availability of marketing and sales information (96 percent).

The Internet's most positive impact is on CRM, said Autobytel officials. A total of 62 percent of dealers strongly agreed that they have successfully used the Internet to retain more customers who previously purchased a new or used vehicle from their dealership.

"Ten years ago many dealers were skeptical about the Internet's impact on their traditional way of doing business," noted Jeffrey Schwartz, Autobytel's president and chief executive officer.

"Our survey sheds light on how retailers have since evolved to take advantage of the medium's unique communications and marketing abilities," he continued. "In just 10 short years, dealers have gone from being notorious 'techno-phobes' to one of the most technically advanced retail segments in the world."