Top Brands, Trends and Insights Highlighted
PITTSBURGH, PA – Women-Drivers.com, the premier car dealer review company focusing on women and families, highlights in the company’s second annual report that women are having empowering experiences at progressive car dealerships in the United States.
Women are responsible for buying over 13 million cars at new car dealerships; that’s an impressive 36,000 vehicles a day. Dealerships have to literally change gears, advertising, amenities and their sales strategies to attract this powerful buying force. “It’s a very competitive industry” shares Women-Drivers.com President, Anne Fleming. “Women know they can buy a car anywhere in their respective city. It’s in a dealer’s best interest to strategize and market to women. However, it takes more than just having a family female spokesperson.
The research in the 2015 US Women’s Car Dealership Report comes from over 3,450 women’s surveys from the company’s website. From these surveys, the company generates a Women Satisfaction Index® or WSI score. The range is from a 5.0 (the highest) to 1.0 (the lowest).
The survey results are from a controlled environment, meaning the company works with about 400 dealers. These progressive dealers use the company’s platform to understand women’s unmet or unrecognized needs. By evaluating the data, dealers measure women’s satisfaction in key areas to create and maintain high scores. The difference these high scores make significantly impact perception, reputation, walk in’s and conversions.
Unlike other 5-star review sites, Women-Drivers.com offers women the opportunity to write a quick review and then opt-in to a ‘deeper dive’ survey to share more thoroughly about their dealership visit. Over 90% of the reviewers opt-in to the twenty-five question survey.
Fleming goes on to share, “In the past, women haven’t been asked for any real feedback by the industry, with the exception of the dutiful CSI. Through our platform, they are empowered and have the opportunity to share their voice and provide productive opinions. Generally, many of these buyers are having more than “satisfied” visits at car dealerships; they are truly delighted by the respectful and trustworthy manners of their sales advisors. In turn, when asked to write a review, they are generous.”
Dealership groups and manufacturers use the data collected by the company to better understand, improve and shape the customer’s experience. From the analytics, trends and predictive patterns are captured to help take the guesswork out of marketing to women.
- When purchasing a vehicle, the overall WSI was 4.73, up from 4.65 last year. The top five rated purchasing brands by women are Mercedes-Benz (also held the #1 spot in 2014), Lincoln, Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler.
- When leasing (a subset of purchasing), the overall WSI was 4.88, a jump from 4.80 in 2014. An amazing 98% of women would recommend their sales advisor when leasing a car.
- When servicing a vehicle, the overall WSI was 4.57 a considerable leap from last years’ 4.38. The top five rated servicing brands by women are BMW, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Audi.
- Women visit on average 2 dealerships prior to buying a car. Sixty percent of women who leave without purchasing, do not return to that dealership.
- When shopping, 56% of women go to the dealerships by themselves. 83% of them would recommend their sales advisor. o Almost one-third report that the dealerships website is not helpful
- When buying, 46% of women go the dealership by themselves. 95% of them would recommend their sales advisor. o Women report the average time to buy a car is 3 hours and 20 minutes
Top reasons women don’t go to the service department at the original dealership:
- Not satisfied with their last visit
- Didn’t like how she was treated
- Inability to get an issue resolved to her satisfaction
- Cost of service
- Location is not convenient
- Hours are not convenient
- Lack of concierge services
The top requested item by women who have to leave their car overnight for service? A car to drive home – typically a service reserved for luxury brands.
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About Women-Drivers.com Women-Drivers.com is the premier ratings and review car dealer review site focused on women+families. It is a marketplace connecting women buyers to trusted Certified Women‐Drivers Friendly™ Car Dealers and encourages extraordinary commercial experiences and lasting relationships between these two groups. The Company provides innovative web-based marketing solutions that build trust and transparency, resulting in greater sales and servicing from women. The company was named by dealerElite as one of the “Top 10 Most Innovative and Interesting Companies” in 2013. Follow on Twitter @womendrivers. #WosCarData
