Did you know that most Canadian car buyers don’t give advance notice before visiting a dealership?

That is, instead of filling out a form or making a phone call, they simply arrive in your showroom. We caught Google Think Auto’s presentation at the 2018 Western Canadian Dealer Summit in Las Vegas last week and discovered some pretty eye-opening statistics.

How Do Buyers Contact Dealerships?

Over half of Canadian car buyers just walk into a dealership with no prior contact while only about 35% will phone beforehand. Further, a mere 11% of Canadian car buyers contact a dealership via an online form. Hold up – 11%? Yes, you read that correctly. Online form leads only account for a small portion of contact methods, yet we constantly get feedback that dealers want more forms submitted! Unfortunately, swimming against the tide by trying to force consumers into filling out forms simply won’t work.

The average car buyer may interact with your dealership’s website, paid as or social media platforms throughout their exploration, but there’s clearly a low probability that they submit an online form, send an email, or reach out via social media/online chat.

Although online marketing efforts influence how likely those methods of contact are used, your efforts influence a larger segment of buyers who simply walk in your front door!

Car buyers interact with dealerships differently than dealers often perceive. So, if the vast majority of car buyers simply walk in or call the dealership, why are dealers investing so much time and energy into form leads? Forms are a main focus for Canadian dealerships, but Google’s data indicates that the weight dealerships attribute to form leads may be a little too significant when contrasted against how people are actually shopping for vehicles these days.