Roadside pitches vs Internet sales

[c_cars 56]

Following on from another thread where newspaper advertising has been discussed, what are everyone's thoughts on the need for a roadside pitch now?

Those of you with retail sites, do you still experience (and sell from) walk-on enquiries or are most of your enquiries internet based?

Being in the corner of a quiet off the beaten track business park I've got to admit that I've missed the usual Saturday / Sunday timewasting / window shopping types this weekend 

[Tom 164]

50% of my sales come from walk-ins/drive-bys so yes its a must, I'm on quite a busy road so it works very well. I've seen internet based companies fold up you cant purely rely on the web. imho. 

[Rory RSC 596]

I have sold 1 car in all the time I have been where I am to a walk on. 

No passing trade here.

[Max Branning 149]

The days of the good old fashioned forecourt are dead now. The only dealers that really need it are new sales as they need to be seen. Most roadside pitches will attract a high rental price due to the location. It is possible to rent a yard or unit on a industrial estate for sometimes a quarter of the price of a roadside pitch and you often get more space.

A lot of the time the "walk on" customers have actually already viewed your cars online.

I have also noticed many more traders now operating on an appointment only basis which i always thought was a bit daft as its in peoples nature to just turn up and view but i actually started doing this on sundays only and it is going well so far. If no one rings me by saturday night i get a day off but when people actually make an appointment and turn up on a sunday they seem to be buying rather than just looking so i am wondering if this could work 7 days a week...time will tell.

[Tom 164]

1 hour ago, Max Branning said:

The days of the good old fashioned forecourt are dead now. 

A lot of the time the "walk on" customers have actually already viewed your cars online.

 

Disagree, a lady for example couple of weeks ago bought a car after seeing it as she drove past whilst visiting family and she live 65 miles away. Same goes for a lot of others, its 50/50. My forecourt is always open for people to view my cars anytime they like. There's too much competition online.

[Rory RSC 596]

I don't dispute that. The benefit of the just passing people means they can see something in person they would otherwise have dismissed as to expensive/not suitable / a million other reasons online.

 

I just don't get any of them with where I am situated.

 

Do you find the just passing by folks commit on the spot or do they often return having thought about it?

[sparky 274]

I tend to agree with TML, well I guess having an ex filling station on a main road gives me no choice!

Last year I was thinking of doing putting a car wash on the front of my forecourt and shifting the cars around to the back compound, thus making them more or less out of sight from the main road. I then worked out how many sales that I did from walk- ons and whilst it wasn't was it was, it was still a decent amount (especially in the summer when the holiday parks are open) so I knocked that idea on the head.

Not far from me there are a couple of main road forecourts on a busy road. Before the internet they where the forecourt of milk and honey and nothing much has changed,  when it did hands recently folk were fighting to get the keys. Even now, in 2016, the advertising spend on the pitch continues to be next to nothing.

To answer the original question, no you don't need a road side pitch but it's an extra piece of armoury worth having in my opinion, although in the summer when I'm asked if I have a public toilet/ phone/shelter and having to give directions out every bank holiday it maybe doesn't feel like that!

[It's me 615]

2 years ago i was of the opinion that everyone was now using satnav so a pitch was not necessary,autotrader was working fine and they all turned up,this last 2 years ive sold more stock from walk ins and referrals because im established and seeable from the road so my attitude has changed again to how it was ie you need some sort of pitch

Roadside as said is free advertising so i wouldnt move now, as i did consider it to cut costs

If you are off the main road then my favourite piece of saying is, 'advertise or die' and unfortunately advertising is not cheap ,as it unfortunately never was

[SC Derby 259]

Sold to a walk on this morning - we have a very busy garage / MOT station next door and regularly get people coming round while they wait and that's what happened today.

purchases a £1000 206 I had in p/ex.

much prefer the people that ring and book on a specific car though!!

[James Bush 95]

I'm just about to move into an industrial unit after months of trying to find a pitch at sensible money. I'm renting a 2500sq ft unit £1000 a month cheaper than the 1500sq ft pitch I was looking at. I weighed up all the pros and cons a decided on the indoor unit because I believe the benefits are more, not just the £1000 a month rent saving and £0 business rates but nice dry and warm on cold winter days, anytime viewings even in short winter months, not having to clean the car a couple of times a week (8 miles away from the steelworks but still get horrible fall out if the winds wrong), a less dell boy trotter image I would have had to shed after the last tenant on the road side pitch and currently 80% of my sales come from internet leads anyway. I gulp every time I see my advertising spend in my accounts but at the end of the day it works and I believe I'm better off spending the £1000 a month saving on internet advertising where the audience is unlimited than the pitch in the hope that one of the hundreds of cars that pass a day will like the look of one of my cars.

I suppose it made my decision easier because its a nice, clean set of 5 units in the town centre so not a massive industrial estate and there's a very well respected garage and bodyshop just down the road.

[Max Branning 149]

1 hour ago, James Bush said:

I'm just about to move into an industrial unit after months of trying to find a pitch at sensible money. I'm renting a 2500sq ft unit £1000 a month cheaper than the 1500sq ft pitch I was looking at. I weighed up all the pros and cons a decided on the indoor unit because I believe the benefits are more, not just the £1000 a month rent saving and £0 business rates but nice dry and warm on cold winter days, anytime viewings even in short winter months, not having to clean the car a couple of times a week (8 miles away from the steelworks but still get horrible fall out if the winds wrong), a less dell boy trotter image I would have had to shed after the last tenant on the road side pitch and currently 80% of my sales come from internet leads anyway. I gulp every time I see my advertising spend in my accounts but at the end of the day it works and I believe I'm better off spending the £1000 a month saving on internet advertising where the audience is unlimited than the pitch in the hope that one of the hundreds of cars that pass a day will like the look of one of my cars.

I suppose it made my decision easier because its a nice, clean set of 5 units in the town centre so not a massive industrial estate and there's a very well respected garage and bodyshop just down the road.

Exactly this.

20 years ago it just would not of worked but in the modern day it is the way forward. Saving 12 grand a year plus is a no brainer even if you are missing out on a few walk ons. If your cars are priced right people will find you and the cars will sell without doubt. 

[Rosemotors 31]

I couldn't survive on just my web sales. I'm based in Royston Vasey and sell local cars to local people. I'm on an industrial estate but with a busy workshop next door and a builders yard the other side, so my passing traffic is steady.

That said, I sold 2 Corsas into Cornwall this year. They wouldn't have come from local advertising or word of mouth. Quite why someone would make a 4 hour round trip for a Corsa is beyond me but I ain't complaining.

[sparky 274]

1 hour ago, Rosemotors said:

 

Quite why someone would make a 4 hour round trip for a Corsa is beyond me but I ain't complaining.

It must have been the balloons.

[Steve92 80]

We have just moved inside and it's much better, the cars can be kept clean and you can work on them all night. It looks more professional too.

[GreenGiant 287]

15 hours ago, Rosemotors said:

I couldn't survive on just my web sales. I'm based in Royston Vasey and sell local cars to local people.

...I got it....

[Wood235 36]

We do a hell of a lot of walk ins, but do agree with some of the comments on here where people are primed initially from other sources like web searches and papers!

[Jack Regan 116]

I've resorted to drag ins, some bloke was walking past today to get his Daily Mail, I dragged him in and he went home with an 

X Type.

[It's me 615]

4 hours ago, Jack Regan said:

I've resorted to drag ins, some bloke was walking past today to get his Daily Mail, I dragged him in and he went home with an 

X Type.

well i hope you gave him those mats lying around with the pink border on them because we all have some of those 

[GreenGiant 287]

...and some industrial-looking metallic blue ones...

[Jack Regan 116]

Don't be silly , I'm saving the special mats, they'll be worth money one day, he got a pat on the back and yesterday's sun with half the crossword done .

[Velicular 10]

A trend that is growing in the USA is to have huge warehouses full of cars and do nothing other than internet sales. I visited a company in Colorado that is now one of the largest dealers in the USA with a huge turn over. Sorry I cant name them. As they say we always follow the god old USA! This is one trend I hope we do not follow in.

Reports show that internet marketing for businesses is growing exponentially. This is resulting in more sales for those that follow the rules of engagement. On the other hand internet sales for products are actually down.

It would seem that people as a whole like instant gratification and they can not get this from buying a product from the internet and waiting for it to be delivered. People still like to touch, see and smell what they are purchasing.

Internet marketing helps businesses push the customer in the right direction of the product they want to buy and who to buy it from. A business that learns how to brand their business to the public and not sell to them is one that will rise above the competition.

As for walk in's or drive by's (Not the shooting kind) I would say they are still a huge factor in sales for any business. No one can stop them selves from looking at a product that is well displayed and sharp to look at. It is like driving down the road and trying not to notice the beautiful looking young lady or handsome man in some peoples cases walking down the road. We all see them we just do not want to admit it to anyone. (Well not or significant other anyway)

Marketing on the internet is a tool for businesses as used to be the Yellow pages and Thompsons Local etc. It is just a little more advanced and has a million times the power over the predecessors as we can now interact with our customers before ever meeting them. A good adage to remember is first impressions count.

Also how many of you on here reading this have ever thought about threads (Blogs etc) around the internet where people can place comments about your business for others to read. Do you interact with these pages? Is the information being publicised good or bad?

As I started out saying the internet is a wonderful tool for marketing and it has a huge ability for customers whom we interact with to have their say. It used to be that it took a life time to build a businesses good reputation. If you had a customer who complained and told some or all of their friends about their grievance you lost a few customers. Today the same person can post all over the internet and destroy your business without you knowing about it at all. So remember not to only market on the net but to also police your business too.

[Jack Regan 116]

On 23 February 2016 at 9:05 AM, James Bush said:

I'm just about to move into an industrial unit after months of trying to find a pitch at sensible money. I'm renting a 2500sq ft unit £1000 a month cheaper than the 1500sq ft pitch I was looking at. I weighed up all the pros and cons a decided on the indoor unit because I believe the benefits are more, not just the £1000 a month rent saving and £0 business rates but nice dry and warm on cold winter days, anytime viewings even in short winter months, not having to clean the car a couple of times a week (8 miles away from the steelworks but still get horrible fall out if the winds wrong), a less dell boy trotter image I would have had to shed after the last tenant on the road side pitch and currently 80% of my sales come from internet leads anyway. I gulp every time I see my advertising spend in my accounts but at the end of the day it works and I believe I'm better off spending the £1000 a month saving on internet advertising where the audience is unlimited than the pitch in the hope that one of the hundreds of cars that pass a day will like the look of one of my cars.

I suppose it made my decision easier because its a nice, clean set of 5 units in the town centre so not a massive industrial estate and there's a very well respected garage and bodyshop just down the road.

Did you have to approach council for change of use to sell cars ? 

[James Bush 95]

Yes. I had to apply for change of use from light industrial to store and sell cars. It passed easy enough but with conditions that I can't park cars outside the unit advertised for sale, no trades will take place in the unit - paintwork, serving of cars etc and opening hours are limited from 8am - 8pm weekdays and 9am - 6pm weekends and bank holidays. 

[Mat C 77]

Have just done 6 months off the driveway and managed to last until now. I stock 6/7 superminis and am selling on average 8 a month from home, just advertising on Autotrader and Gumtree / Shpock etc... Whilst rinsing my facebook until everyone blocks me!

I have just been reported to the council for home trading so am having to take the plunge and get myself a unit, rent, expenses, insurance, more stock, advertising, so the nerves are kicking in. I have been selling cars since I was 17, so its all I know ( i'm 18 now! LOL ) here's hoping my cahones are big enough! - If anyone can recommend a decent Insurer ( for cars and contents/Public liabilty ) as I jumped into the first one I could last year, so need a decent deal this time around as my current provider is next to useless.

The one thing that does seem to work is having a clean and easy website ( mine isn't there yet ) and good pictures - I trawl the net daily and some dealers images are shocking. The PLC's have taught me many things but retail is detail and all that, Pictures, Video's the more the better. It seems like most people ( that I come across anyway ) have been doing this since the 70's and they still are doing it like its the 70's too, fag in gob staring out anyone who walks on!

Anyway, good to be here and im hoping to be in and up and running properly within 4 weeks! Wish me luck