If you want to give your new and/or used car dealership the best chance of not only surviving but also thriving during the coming months, it’s essential to find ways to manage your vehicle inventory as strategically and efficiently as possible.
Follow a few tips to get products moving well today.
Understand the Target Market
To have proficient turnover on your inventory, you must understand the target market you’re trying to sell to.
Make sure you’re clear about who the customer is that’s likely to buy each type of vehicle you sell, and what it is this person is looking for when they shop.
This clarity should cover not just makes and models but also more detailed things such as vehicle trims, colors, and upgrade options.
To get the information you need, read up on the latest trends, check out research reports, look at keyword analysis, and examine other data as it becomes available.
Also, speak to consumers to ask them directly what it is they want.
Put Together Quality Inventory Listings
Next, the ability to move stock quickly is affected by the quality of the listings you put online or elsewhere.
Use the market data you’ve compiled to help you put together inventory listings that get results.
Capture consumer attention right away, and provide enough details that people can tell if a vehicle is worthwhile looking at in person or making a phone or email inquiry about right away.
Update listings over time, too.
If you change the price or add some free upgrades to entice shoppers to look at older stock, change listings to reflect new information.
All of your ads, both online and printed, should feature enticing language, clear fonts in big enough sizings that people don’t have to squint to read the details, and enough white space on the page that there isn’t a cluttered look.
Be open about pricing and what it includes, too, as a lack of transparency turns people off and wastes time for shoppers and your workforce.
Have someone proofread listings for you to pick up typos and other mistakes, and always add in plenty of clear photographs inside and out (and videos for online ads), so browsers get a good idea of the state of the vehicles.
Have Clear Purchase Strategies
When it comes to managing dealership inventory, another tactic is to have clear purchase strategies.
Instead of buying new cars on a whim and tying up your cash flow in stock that may or may not sell, set yourself limits upfront.
Know the exact vehicle types you want to stock, which you’re confident you can sell.
Be clear, too, about the price points you’ll buy at, where you know you’ll maximize profitability and move inventory out the door quickly.
If you’re not the only one in charge of buying vehicles for your dealership, consider drawing up a checklist for others in your team to follow to ensure they adhere to your chosen strategies.
It’s often wise to create a niche for your dealership, too, whereby you target certain customer types and cater to their specific needs, rather than offering anything for anyone.
As an example, you might decide to focus on selling affordable family cars or limited-edition prestige sports cars.
Make Use of Tech Tools
Dealership entrepreneurs can make use of tech tools to make inventory management easier and more effective, too.
The latest auto dealer inventory management software is easy to set up and use.
It makes it a breeze to know what inventory you have on hand, where it’s located, the price you paid, if it’s out on a test drive, and with whom, and from where you purchased each car.
There are also customizable functions, so you can set systems up to suit how you run your business.
You can utilize mobile compatibility in many cases, too.
This means you and your employees can access real-time data from anywhere.
This setup makes it easier to manage inventory and ensure you maximize productivity and profits.
Running a dealership is a busy job that comes with plenty of stresses.
However, you should minimize the headaches related to inventory management if you follow the tips listed above.