April 22, 2013
During the “Cars.com: The Value Equation of Mobile” session, the executive spoke about the mobile strategy behind Cars.com. The session also presented some trends that the company is seeing with its mobile users.
“If you think about three years from now, I don’t think mobile is about a device – it’s about the connectivity,” said Sharon Knitter, senior director of mobile, Cars.com, Chicago.
“It’s really a Web – they go everywhere and every way.”
Drive on mobile
The 36 percent of traffic coming from mobile devices is what Cars.com classifies as true mobile traffic. It does not include tablet traffic coming to the company’s Web site since the users act similarly to desktop users.
Ms. Knitter broke down the percent of true mobile traffic into groups.
Cars.com enables mobile car shoppingAdditionally, mobile phone traffic that is redirected to the company’s desktop site brings in 9.3 percent of traffic.
Cars.com’s iPhone app rakes in 7.4 percent, and the Android app brings in 4.1 percent.
Cars.com brings in 23 million monthly visits and is positioned at connecting in-market shoppers with three types of automotive advertisers - manufacturers, local dealers and private
party sellers.
When Cars.com launched its iPad app, the company wanted to create something that would not replicate a mobile site. The app focused on new cars without inventory and was set in a tactile orientation.
However, the user reviews were low for the app because users expected to have everything that they have on the Web via the app, per Ms. Knitter. By adding inventory and more photos and videos, the ratings for the app went up.
Financially, the Cars.com iPad app was been a hit with advertisers that want to run ads on bigger screens. The challenge for Cars.com is figuring out where the iPad app fits into the company’s portfolio.
Mobile also plays a role in Cars.com's advertising.
For example, when Cars.com advertises on the Super Bowl – which does not specifically promote the company’s mobile offerings – the television spots always feature a consumer staring at their mobile device with a Cars.com logo on it.
Going forward, Cars.com is focusing on unique key performance indicators for mobile, furthering the connected screen experience and putting the consumer relationship first.
Ms. Knitter also highlighted some learnings about smartphone and tablet traffic.
In particular, tablet and smartphone traffic increased in the evenings from 2011 to 2012.
Android and iPhone app visits consume three times more screen views than desktop users.
There are also behavior differences between platforms.
For example, Cars.com users with the Android app use map-to-directions and visit dealership Web sites most frequently.
IPhone users are likely to look up driving directions and the email this page features.
Mobile measurement
It’s important for marketers to look at exactly what they are measuring.
“Mobile is so new – we have to change things in it because we’re going to find better user experiences,” Ms. Knitter said.
For example, consumers with a Motorola Razr used to have to scroll through pages of content before they got to a search. Although this was great for advertisers to rack up page views, marketers moved away from the model as soon as they could.
Cars.com has worked with Nielsen on some studies about its users. The study from Nielsen in 2011 found that mobile car shoppers tend to be younger, shopping for a new car and affluent.
Per Ms. Knitter, the big news for during the 2012 version of the study is that everyone is a mobile shopper.
Additionally, more of these users were older than 35-years old, considered purchasing a used or pre-owned car and had a household income of less than $100,000.
Interestingly, there are also big differences in how consumers research using their devices.
For example, Nielsen’s study found that consumers were more likely to contact a dealer, check-in at a dealership or scan the VIN number via a smartphone.
On the other hand, tablet users were more likely to view photos and videos, read reviews and research and compare car models, which mirror the same types of uses for desktop research.
“From survey research we know that 50 percent of the folks that are using one of our mobile properties are on a dealer lot,” Ms. Knitter said.
“That makes you think pretty differently about the information that we actually need to be giving them,” she said.
