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Create Irresistible Online Inventory Listings with These Seven Practices

Dec. 29 2023 Dealership Tips By Dealer Spike

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When it comes to driving quality sales leads for your dealership, it’s crucial to offer the shopping experience consumers expect. In modern day online retail, your inventory is arguably your most important website feature, so optimizing your inventory listings is key. In this article, you will browse a list of best practices and website features to market your inventory to the right shoppers and ultimately drive more sales leads through your online listings.

  • Keep Your Inventory Listings Up to Date
  • Accurate & Detailed Inventory Listings
  • Use High-Quality Images
  • Optimize Listings for SEO 
  • Offer Transparent Pricing
  • Highlight Unit Sales
  • Provide Contact Information & Calls-to-Action


Optimizing Your Online Inventory Listings

Implement the following best practices to optimize your website inventory to appeal to modern shoppers. 

1. Keep Your Inventory Listings Up to Date

Consumers want the latest info they can get on your inventory availability and pricing. Plan out a regular schedule for updating the inventory.  This could be done on a weekly or even daily basis, depending on how frequently you add new units to your inventory and how quickly units are being sold. 

If you’re a Dealer Spike customer, you get 24/7 access to use the Inventory Manager tool to add, edit and remove inventory listings as needed. Click here to learn how.

You can also use your DMS to keep inventory listings up to date. Integrate your website inventory with your dealership management system (DMS) to streamline inventory management and ensure accurate and up-to-date listings. Your DMS integration ensures your website syncs with your DMS on a daily basis to reflect any updates in your inventory levels and available units. This will help you keep your website inventory up to date and avoid the risk of shoppers encountering manual errors and outdated listings.

2. Provide Accurate & Detailed Inventory Listings

Shoppers don’t just want updated inventory information in terms of what’s new and available, they expect to see accurate inventory details on your website at all times. One of the most important aspects of an online inventory listing is the description of the vehicle or equipment being sold. 

Shoppers place a lot of significance in the level of information available on your website, as it’s a key part of their decision-making. A shocking 98% of shoppers have left a website as a result of incomplete information. When you maintain accurate, detailed and easy-to-understand unit listings, you sell your inventory faster. This includes providing specifications such as make, model, year, and any unique features or upgrades. 

Additionally, if you’re selling pre-owned units, it’s important to include information about the condition of the vehicle or equipment, including any repairs or modifications that have been made. This level of detail will help build trust with potential buyers and ensure they have a clear understanding of what they are considering purchasing.

3. Use High-Quality Images

In addition to detailed descriptions, it is essential to include high-quality photos in your online inventory listings. This allows potential buyers to get a visual representation of the vehicle or equipment and help them to envision themselves using it.

You should take multiple photos from different angles and make sure they are well-lit. Remember to showcase the best features of each item and avoid using stock photos, as they may not accurately represent the specific item being listed. You might also consider adding 360-degree images and/or videos to give customers a more immersive experience.

4. Optimize Listings for SEO 

To increase visibility for online shoppers, it’s crucial to optimize inventory listings for search engines. That includes optimizing titles, headings, and descriptions with relevant keywords to improve search engine visibility. You can also utilize meta tags and alt tags for images to enhance SEO performance. You should also ensure that your website is optimized for mobile devices, as more and more shoppers use their smartphones to search for products. This means having a responsive design and fast load times.

5. Offer Transparent Pricing

With shoppers having access to a wealth of information online, they are more informed and demanding than ever before. They expect your dealerships to be upfront about the prices of your units and services, so transparency is paramount. List accurate prices next to each inventory item for your potential customers’ shopping convenience. 

Along with transparent pricing, payment calculation tools are also a must-have for modern shoppers. These tools allow shoppers to calculate estimated monthly payments based on their budget and financial information. 

By providing this feature on your website, you can attract potential buyers who are interested in purchasing, but may be hesitant due to concerns about affordability. It also streamlines the buying process by providing shoppers with an accurate estimate of their monthly payments, saving them time and effort.

6. Highlight Unit Sales

Who doesn’t love getting a good deal? Let shoppers know if a unit is on sale by showcasing the sales price. You may even decide to display the sales price alongside the original pricing to show how good a deal the shopper is actually getting. This is especially helpful if you’re trying to move last year’s inventory off the lot to make room for new arrivals.

7. Provide Contact Information & Calls-to-Action

While it’s true that the majority of the modern shopping journey takes place online, there will come a time when your potential customers will want to reach out to your dealership. When this happens, it’s essential to make it easy for them to contact you with any questions or to schedule a test drive. 

This can be accomplished by including clear contact information and a call-to-action on each inventory listing. You may also consider including links to your social media accounts so that potential buyers can learn more about the dealership and its reputation.

Streamlining Your Inventory Management

By implementing these best practices, you can optimize your website inventory listings to attract more potential customers, improve engagement and ultimately drive more sales leads. If you are concerned about finding the time or resources to keep your website inventory up to date, consider outsourcing to an inventory management vendor.

By outsourcing to a vendor, updates will be made in a timely manner, ensuring that your website is always accurate for every shopper. This also prevents potential customer frustration as a result of outdated or incorrect inventory information.

With a dedicated partner managing your website inventory, your team can focus on other critical aspects of your business, so you can give your shoppers the key inventory information they expect from an online shopping experience.