In July we saw a slight drop from June to July across all KPI's with lead volume decreasing 4.6% from June, Test Drives decreasing by 4% and sales decreasing by 4.5%.  August was trending similarly to June until the return of Level 3 in Auckland/Level 2 in the rest of NZ on August 12th.  With the added hurdles in trading, combined with a general slowdown in economic activity August has seen significant drops across the board.  You can read more about the downturn in AutoPlay tracked KPI's HERE.

As of 28th August the top sources of leads remain unchanged from previous months with 'Web - Classified' and 'Web - Dealer' taking out the top two spots, and leads from 'Brand' being the third most common source of leads for Kiwi dealers (AutoPlays customer base is heavily skewed towards franchise dealers).

Web - Classified - Down 24.7% (vs 0.2% decrease in July)
Web - Dealer - Down 28.4% (vs 2.2% decrease in July)
Brand - Down 34.2% (vs 6.7% decrease in July)
August figures as at 3.25pm 28/08/20

As a face to face activity Test Drives were always bound to suffer with Auckland unable to trade.  Test Drives are down across the board, but interestingly the top 3 sources of test drives, whilst unchanged have been noticeably more impacted in August that the less common sources of Test Drives.  

Web - Classified - Down 28.1% (vs 2.9% increase in July)
Web - Dealer - Down 39.5% (vs 3.3% increase in July)
Direct - Down 40.6% (vs 0.1% increase in July)
August figures as at 3.25pm 28/08/20

After strong months in June & July sales have decreased again in August.  Whether this would have occurred as forecasted by many people WITHOUT the return of Covid impose shutdowns we will never know.

Web - Classified - Down 17.3 (vs 6.9% decrease in July)
Web - Dealer - Down 33.5% (vs 4.1% decrease in July)
Repeat - Down 21.0% (vs 6.2% decrease in July)
August figures as at 3.25pm 28/08/20

When NZ last returned from Level 3 lockdown we saw the market bounce back fairly quickly with strong June and July results for most dealers.   With Auckland returning to Level 2 on Monday 31st August it will be interesting to see how quickly the market bounces back this time.  AutoPlay will bring you all the details in future editions of The PlayBook.   

With Auckland in Covid Level 3 from 12th August until 31st August we've seen a definite slowdown across the main KPI's that AutoPlay track across our customer base.  Obviously Auckland has borne the brunt of it but we are also see slowdown through the rest of NZ as well.  

If you are interested in the top sources of Leads, Test Drives and Sales in July 2020 check out our post here.  This month we thought it would be more valuable to share some recent information about how the market is performing.

The first week of the return to Level 3 in Auckland/Level 2 in the rest of NZ saw the biggest dip with the week of the 12th seeing leads decreasing considerably.  The week beginning the 17th rebounded slightly but AutoPlay customers are still generating 18% fewer leads MTD than in July, and 26% fewer leads MTD than in August (as at 23rd August 2020).  Cumulatively performance is still much better than May, but well below June and July levels.

With limited to no face to face sales contact permitted in Level 3, and a heightened sensitivity in Level 2 Test Drives were always going to suffer with the resurgence of Covid-19.  So far up to 23rd August we've seen a decrease of 21% MTD from July, and 26% MTD from June.

Like Test Drives, Appraisals were always bound to suffer with less f-2-f trading as an activity that is mostly done face to face.  Of all the KPI's AutoPlay track Appraisals have proven to be the most impacted at Level 3 with 21% fewer than the same time in July MTD, and 31% down MTD from June.  

During the shutdown in Auckland we have been heartened to see dealers are still logging into AutoPlayAuto.com to manage their leads.  We have seen a decrease of 8% MTD from July, and 9% MTD from June, but as you can see from the graphs above, logins have mostly remained constant over the last few months.  This highlights the importance that dealers place in managing leads and we view it as a great positive sign that dealers are adapting well to working digitally.

When we next post we hope to be able to bring you some positive numbers as Auckland returns to Level 2 from 31st August.

AutoPlay are always interested in supporting ways that can help dealers streamline their processes.  We have recently started working with Ripa who are a brand new app designed to help motor dealers in NZ buy and sell stock in just 1 hour.
 
Install the Ripa app on your device, complete the easy signup and Register now to be able to buy and sell motor vehicles. Their unique tender / auction model lasts just an hour - in just 60 minutes you'll have an offer for any vehicle you list. Aged stock or trade ins - you decide!

For a limited time Ripa are offering the service for only $1 per completed deal and no cost for any deals not completed!

You can Download the App from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store today.
You can visit https://www.ripa.co.nz/ to learn more about Ripa or just click on the relevant app store for your device to install the app and register today.
 
AutoPlay have integrated with Ripa and - if you are an AutoPlay user, go to your Ripa settings and link your Ripa account with AutoPlay.

Once AutoPlay receive the set up request we will activate a button located on the Appraisal and Listing screen for you to push the listing to Ripa.  Ripa will handle the rest including listing your vehicle and removing it when required.

In June we saw the market bounce back quickly with pre-sale lead, test drive activity returning to levels comparable to pre Covid-19 levels.  Although June was such a strong month for many dealers across the market, it was of course due to the market returning to normal levels after the trials of shutting down during Level 3 & 4.  The strong performance continued in July with just a small drop off from June to July.  Overall Lead volume was down 4.6% from June, Test Drives decreased by 4% and sales decreased by 4.5%.

Leads - Down 4.6%
Test Drives - Down 4.0%
​Sales - Down 4.5%

After seeing leads experience a significant "dead cat bounce" in June, July saw a slight dip across all sources electronic to f-2-f.  Leads from classified listings websites were fairly static - dropping just 0.2% from June and remaining a great way to reach a wide range of customers in the used space.  Dealership leads decreased by 2.2% and brand generated leads dropped by 6.7% from June to July 2020.

Web - Classified - Down 0.2%
Web - Dealer - Down 2.2%
Brand - Down 6.7%

Test Drive activity remains strong with Saturday by far the most common day for Test Drives.  Although Test Drives decreased overall by 4%, the top 3 sources of Test Drives actually increased with Test Drives from 'Web - Classified' leads increasing by 2.9%, 'Web - Dealer' attributed Test Drives increasing by 3.3% and 'Direct' Test Drives staying strong with a 0.1% increase from June.

Web - Classified - Up 2.9%
Web - Dealer - Up 3.3%
Direct - Up 0.1%

After such a strong month in June, AutoPlay customers saw a small drop in sales recorded in AutoPlay in July.  Sales attributed to the 'Web - Classified' sources decreased by 6.9%, whilst sales from 'Web - Dealer' channels dropped by 4.1% and 'Repeat' customers dropped by 6.2%.

Web - Classified - Down 6.9%
Web - Dealer - Down 4.1%
Repeat - Down 6.2%

A full 2 months after Covid-19 activity in dealership land still remains strong.  With the end of the wage subsidy it's anticipated we'll be seeing a tough few months to close out 2020.  AutoPlay will continue to bring you all the latest market stats (good or bad) - make sure you check back next month.

In the last edition of Autotalk we shared some market stats on the recovery in the NZ market – comparing the first 20 days of May to the first 20 days of June 2020.  Understandably with May just the beginning of the recovery we saw some significant improvement over the first 20 days of each month. 

Now that June is complete, we are seeing a much less significant increase in Leads, Test Drives and Sales as activity has quickly rebounded to pre COVID-19 levels, and then flattened out.  That said the last 10 days of June continued to be positive for kiwi dealers and we saw a increase of 22.4% in the volume of Leads, Test Drives increased by 42.5% and Sales increase by 38.6%.

Leads - Up 22.4%
Test Drives - Up 42.5%
​Sales - Up 38.6%

As with the first 20 days of June, leads from the ‘Brand’ source continue to bounce back at a higher rate than online sources such as 3rd party listing sites and dealer websites.  Leads from the ‘Brand’ source increased by 43.8% from the previous month, compared to an increase of 18.8% in ‘Web Classified’ leads and 10.1% for leads from the ‘Web – Dealer’ lead source.  As we typically experience, despite the growth in the volume of leads provided by the dealers’ brand/OEM, leads from dealer and 3rd party sites still account for more than double the amount of brand generated leads.

Web - Classified - Up 18.8%
Web - Dealer - Up 10.1%
Brand - Up 43.8%

Test Drive activity remains strong with a 42.5% increase from May to June.  Test Drives from ‘Web – Classified’ sources increased by 29.4% from the previous month and overtook ‘Web -Dealer’ (up 20.1%) as the top source of test drives for kiwi dealerships.  Test Drives attributed to genuine walk-ins are often attributed to the ‘Direct’ source in AutoPlay and this source continued to increase – up 71.5% from the previous period.

Web - Classified - Up 29.4%
Web - Dealer - Up 20.1%
Direct - Up 71.6%

As with all other metrics Sales continued to bounce back in June with a 38.6% increase in from May amongst AutoPlay customers.  Sales attributed to ‘Web – Classified’ sources increased by 27.0%, sales attributed to ‘Web – Classified’ sources increased by 27.4% and sales attributed to ‘Repeat’ customers increased by 49.4%.

Web - Classified - Up 27.0%
Web - Dealer - Up 27.4%
Repeat - Up 49.4%

As has been widely discussed June was a pretty successful month for a majority of dealerships.  So far in July we have seen Lead, Test Drive and Sale activity remain pretty constant against June levels, with a slight lull recorded in the middle of the month.  

If your anything like me your sick of hearing about COVID-19 and you may well be rolling your eyes at the prospect of reading yet another COVID-19 themed article....but hear us out - this one is not the normal doom & gloom about the challenges ahead, or espousing any unrealistic expectations that everything is back to normal. 

At AutoPlay through our conversations with dealers it's been made clear that a lot of the franchise dealers we work with want to look to the future and move on past what was certainly a difficult time for the automotive industry in NZ.  That said something we've heard talking heads rather cynically trot out the old Winston Churchill line that "you should never waste a good crisis".  

Whilst a little heartless towards the many people that have lost their livelihoods or struggled over the past 3 months the concept does have merit.  

At AutoPlay we were forced to work differently.  Like many businesses we had the challenge of maintaining relationships with our customers without being able to do face-to-face contact, and we had to find different ways of communicating with our fellow staff members when we couldn't yell at them from across the office.

For dealerships we've heard a lot of talk of 'right sizing' for the future market - which is entirely valid but not what we want to focus on in this article.  During COVID-19 AutoPlay put a lot of effort into shifting our development to what dealers wanted during Level 3 and the early stages of Level 2.  Some of these like the Visitor Book were short term ways of addressing specific challenges, whilst others might have ongoing applications well after COVID-19 is firmly in the rear view mirror.  So what have we learnt from working with COVID-19?  It's time to get out the crystal ball...

Embracing Video 
Over the shutdown we've seen first hand dealerships embrace Skype/Zoom/Teams as a way to communicate with AutoPlay.  Where we previously struggled to get the same level of engagement with dealers and brands over video chat when compared to face-to-face visits, during and post COVID-19 we've managed to run a number of online training sessions.  With dealerships we've seen dealers re-engage with video as a communication medium and at a more basic level pay real attention to the information on their website and the way their vehicles are presented online.
+ What will happen in the future?
Many dealers will continue to focus on their online presence more and continue to look at video walk-arounds and recordings as a viable means to connect with their customers. 
- What will remain the same?
In NZ in particular there is a large portion of the market that still prefer to deal with people over the phone or face-to-face.  Whilst it's possible retail presences will be consolidated its likely the experience of buying a car from a dealership will continue to be a focus for dealers in the next few years at least.

Contactless Technology
COVID-19 often meant you couldn't be in front of your customer, and when you could you certainly couldn't hand over a shared device to get customers to sign T&C's etc.  This forced the hands of many software providers to offer contactless solutions to help support dealerships to continue to sell cars.
+ What will happen in the future?
At AutoPlay we believe on of the stronger learnings from the COVID-19 experience that will stick with dealers in the future is the need to provide customers with alternative ways of connecting with the dealership.  This doesn't necessarily mean brand new technology, but rather applying that technology in different ways.  At AutoPlay we are working on new ways of prompting Lead, Test Drive, Appraisal and Calendar Bookings to be completed by the customer - be it via web page "plug-ins" or SMS invites.  Allowing the customer to complete as much of the process as possible from the comfort of their own home is a win-win for dealers and their customers alike.
- What will remain the same?
The sales process won't change massively in the short term - the road-to-the-sale isn't going anywhere soon.  Although the method and location may change, the goal is still to move the customer through the road-to-the-sale process as efficiently as possible whilst ensuring you maintain a positive customer experience throughout the journey.

Making The Most Of What You've Got
We saw first hand that leads dropped off a cliff during COVID-19, and whilst the key KPI's of Leads, Test Drives, Sales and Appraisals have all bounced back to normal (or close to) levels, theres still been an obvious focus from the dealers we talk to on making the most out of the leads you are generating.
+ What will happen in the future?
With sales it's very easy to fall into the allure of targeting the newer leads that have come into the dealership.  Lead conversion to sales generally sits between 20% to 30% for the majority of dealers.  Coming out of COVID we've seen more emphasis on replying to leads faster, with better quality replies, and working leads more.  The feedback right now is that the market is flying high, and whilst it's possible that over the next 6-12 months there could be fewer leads dealerships and brands will demonstrate a renewed emphasis on not only basic lead management principles as a way to leverage the leads they do have, but mining their existing customers, lost leads, end of finance and appraisals as a way to generate more leads rather than waiting for customers to come to them.
- What will remain the same?
I've been told by many salespeople that sales is a numbers game.  If you don't have the leads in the funnel you won't have the volume to convert to sales down the track.  Dealers will continue to look at ways of generating new leads - whether that's through new brand initiatives, utilizing additional tools and services or branching out how and where they advertise.  This is a vital part of keeping a dealership ticking over but will need to be balanced against the need to fully squeeze the existing leads that have already been paid for in time and money.

As many of you know, AutoPlayAuto.com was launched in July 2019 as a major platform upgrade to a full HTML 5 web application, available for login at https://autoplayauto.com.

The majority of our users have already migrated to AutoPlayAuto.com and we thank you for that.  If you are yet to make the move, you will need to ensure that you’re using the new app https://autoplayauto.com on all your devices including desktop PCs, iPads and mobile phones rather than continue to use the old Silverlight app on PC or iOS app on iPads and iPhones. These old apps will no longer be supported from Tuesday 4th August 2020.  Access to them will be disabled from this time.

If you have the old iOS app installed, please delete it from your device.  When using the new application;

• On Android devices it is recommended to use the Chrome browser
• On iOS devices it is recommended to use the Safari browser
• On Windows devices it is recommended to use the Firefox & Chrome browser

AutoPlay have a comprehensive library of support documentation and videos available from the Support portal, accessible at https://support.autoplayauto.com/portal/kb

By accessing AutoPlay from https://autoplayauto.com you will always have the most up to date version of AutoPlay. If you need any extra help, or have questions, please contact AutoPlay via support@autoplay.co.nz

Last month AutoPlay shared some pretty crazy stats showing the increase in Lead, Test Drive and Sales activity from April to May 2020.  Given the almost complete shutdown of the market in April it was not surprising to see increases in the volume of Leads, Test Drives and Sales anywhere from 200% to 800%.
​
This month we are looking at the first 20 days of June vs the first 20 days of May.  So far this month June is running fairly close to pre COVID-19 levels.  Compared to May, Leads are up 43.0%, Test Drives up 95.7% and Sales up 64.6% MTD.

Leads from the ‘Brand’ source continue to bounce back at a higher rate than online sources such as 3rd party listing sites and dealer websites which continued to generate low volumes of leads even during the Level 3 & 4 shutdowns.  Leads from the ‘Brand’ source increased by 95.3% from the previous period in May, but still account for approximately a third of the number of leads generated by ‘Web Classified’ (up 33.4%) and ‘Web – Dealer’ (up 21.9%) lead sources.  Interestingly there is a small trend showing that the types of vehicles being enquired on are trending towards lower price ranges than during the pre COVID-19 period.

​Test Drives were one of the biggest KPI’s to bounce back in May and June (alongside Appraisals) – increasing by 95.7%.  Test Drives from ‘Web – Classified’ sources increased by 60.6% from 1st-20th May vs 1st-20th June, and overtook ‘Web -Dealer’ (up 48.6%) as the top source of test drives for kiwi dealerships.  Test Drives attributed to genuine walk-ins are often attributed to the ‘Direct’ source in AutoPlay and this source continued to increase – up 180% from the previous period.

As with all other metrics Sales continued to bounce back in June with a 64.6% increase in June 1st-20th from the same period in May.  Sales attributed to ‘Web – Classified’ sources increased by 42.0%, sales attributed to ‘Web – Classified’ sources increased by 36.7% and sales attributed to ‘Repeat’ customers increased by 62.8%.

​Overall, we are seeing a strong bounce back in activity across the majority of customers using the AutoPlay Sales Pipeline to manage their leads (approx. 80% of franchise dealership by volume).  As we know, the challenge will be to sustain this level of activity in what will surely be a challenging market for the remainder of 2020.  Make sure to check back for more regular updates from AutoPlay on pre-sale lead activity throughout NZ.

“This is just the beginning of our innovation-lead future at Autotrader.co.nz. We’re excited to continually bring market leading innovations to dealers and Kiwi car buyers.”
 
The new website soft-launched on the 19th of May with a refreshed logo and brand before a national marketing campaign begins in the weeks and months to follow.
 
Autotrader.co.nz receives 200,000 unique visitors per month and the new platform has showed very encouraging site statistics so far with time on vehicle page listings doubling immediately.

Auto Trader has been a trusted brand in New Zealand since printing the first edition of the buyer’s guide in 1981. Later in 2005 the first iteration of the website was launched with the mobile site following in 2008. The new website will continue to offer dealers industry leading ROI and trackable results on a new dedicated responsive platform.
 
When asked about the effect Covid-19 may have on the website and industry, Ross says: “It’s certainly a strange time for the new website to launch, but our lead tracking and analytics have shown the public has been quick to return to their old buying habits at level 3 and 2”.
 
“Our research shows that buyers are more than ever considering all options when it comes to making a car purchase decision and after extensive analysis, we are confident we have the best buying experience available for Kiwis”

Dealer Discounts
Auto Trader were quick to support all its dealers through the lockdown, offering free advertising in April, 50% off advertising in May, 30% off June, 15% off July, extended payment terms and 50% off upgrade packages.
 
These discount packages are also available to all Auto Play dealers who are currently not online with Auto Trader. We offer rolling contracts with no long-term commitment required.​

For the last few months we’ve been heavily affected by the COVID-19 shutdown.  With lead volumes dropping to a fraction of normal rates we made the decision to take a break from our monthly publication of Lead Source stats for the NZ market. 
​
At the time of writing this article it is now the end of May.  Although Lead, Test Drive, Appraisal and Sales volumes are still below what they were in pre-COVID-19 times, we have seen a strong rebound of activity in the last 2 weeks of March to almost pre COVID-19 levels.   

April 2020 was completely dead as dealerships were shut down during the Level 4 restrictions.  Similarly, the first few weeks of April there was very little activity, with the real activity only commencing on the 28th of April – the first day of Level 3 restrictions.  This flurry of activity continued throughout May as dealers found a way to generate leads.  As NZ moved into Level 2 on the 14th of March we’ve found Test Drives and Sales have steadily grown. 
​
Overall compared to April the contrast is staggering.  Whilst at Level 4 there was almost no activity except limited website leads, May 2020 saw a 285.8% increase in the volume of Leads from the previous month – whilst Test Drives increased by 829.3% and Sales increased by 235.6%.

The top 3 sources of leads was unsurprising as the typical lead sources remained strong and online sources rebounded more quickly.  The most common source of leads in May 2020 was ‘Web – Classified’ with 152.1% more leads generated than in April.  ‘Web – Dealer’ was the second most common source of leads – increasing by 221.1%.  Leads generated by the ‘Brand’ OEM group represented the third most common source of leads in May and increased by 893.8% as Brand Groups lurched back into life.

Test Drives were logically the most impacted by Level 3 & 4 shutdowns as evidenced by the massive increase in Test Drive volume as soon as dealers were able to safely do so.  As with Leads, online sources remained strong as dealers converted some of those to Test Drives as soon as they were able.  Test Drives from ‘Web – Dealer’ sources increased 664.2% whilst Test Drives from ‘Web – Classified’ sources like Trade Me, Driven and Autotrader increased by 756.3%.  Test Drives attributed to ‘Direct’ sources were the third most common source of leads with a sizeable increase of 1187.7% from April to May – reflecting more customers potentially walking in without previously enquiring in late May as confidence in Level 2 restrictions grow.

During the Level 3 & 4 restrictions we still saw Sales being made as many canny operators were able to record forward orders during the shutdown.  The top source for sales remains ‘Web – Classified’ sources with 298.9% more sales attributed to these sources in May than April.  ‘Web – Dealer’ sales increased by 359.8% and sales to ‘Repeat’ customers increased by 81.2%.
​
Make sure to check back next month to see the top sources of leads, test drives and sales in June 2020.