Call for Internet Metrics

June 12, 2009

Over the last few months I’ve been researching and writing about the internet metrics that drive retail automotive success. I have to say that I’m fascinated and even intoxicated by the fact that I’m beginning to understand which activities correlate to consistent retail success.

I need, however, more data in order to strengthen my model and understanding. Specifically, I would like those of you who use AutoTrader to tell me which package you subscribe to (i.e. premium, feature or standard listing), how many “Active Shoppers” were in your market in May, Search Result Pages (SRP) your dealership experienced in May, and how many Vehicle Detail Pages (VDP) in May. Note – be careful not to provide me with SRP’s per vehicle or VDP’s per vehicle. I’m just looking for the raw number of SRP’s and VDP’s. Finally, I need to know the average number of used vehicles in stock during May. These metrics can be obtained from either AutoTrader’s back end site, or summary reports that they may have provided you in the past month. If you don’t have access to this information, your rep can provide it to you upon request.

I promise to hold your information confidential, so please do not post your response to this site. Rather, email the above referenced information to me at [email protected]. Use the subject line “Confidential AutoTrader Metrics”. Please be sure to include the name of your dealership and also the number of used units that you retailed in May. If you provide me with your metrics, I promise to return to you really valuable conclusions about what it takes to achieve transformative results. I feel like I’m very close to having developed a model that, if followed, will produce big sales volume.