WD&S Web Site

[Alan Nicholson]

Mr. Muntz,
This site has been up and running for a couple of years now. Would you share with us information about how this web site has impacted WD&S. Is a web site necessary today, much like a building is necessary for a dealership or most other businesses. Should we expect great profits to be generated from a site, or is it mainly a source of information for our customers? Has your site met your result expectations from when you conceived the idea? What were your disappointments, your unexpected surprises, your unexpected returns, to date.


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Alan1149@aol.com

[jimmuntz]

Hi Allen-

Please if I can call you Allen, please call me Jim.

There are a lot of questions in there.

What impact for WD&S?- The truth is I really don't know yet. Our perception is that the Internet is in the process of creating far-reaching changes in the way we communicate, conduct commerce and how we gain information. We want to be a player in this new environment. In that regard the site has kept us current in a technology sense and has signaled to our readers that we have at least an average Internet IQ.

Is it necessary? - I think so. I cannot think of any major purchase that I do not at least try to research on the Web. I was just looking at a used car for my son this weekend and was able to trace its title history as well as get some authoritative price points. The interesting part of my visit to the dealer's web site is that the vehicle I was looking at was not listed, but the sight claimed to have inventory up to date as of that day. Sort of shakes your confidence. If a dealership does not have a Web site, Internet savvy customers may feel that they be too "behind the times" to do business with. I think it is necessary.

Should we expect great profits? Maybe not yet, but sooner or later you should reap the benefits. The key for most car dealers is that they now have an opportunity to make in-roads into their competitor's markets if they do not participate. Active Internet dealers with a workable philosophy are staking out territory on the Internet that the late comers may never recapture.

Has the site met our expectations? - We can't tell because our expectations continue to change. These forums work very well. Enough posts to make the conversation interesting, but not so many that it becomes a burden to follow the discussion. I must also say that the content of the postings is what impresses us the most. These are thinking people - not just idle cyber-space chatter boxes. We watch ongoing discussions with great interest, as do hundreds who visit daily but never post.

Dissappointment? Surprises? -- Not too many, except that the number of dealership professionals that have not discovered the Internet and its valuable tools - like e-mail - still astounds me. It will change, but we expected more change at this stage of the game.

Stay tuned- Just this week we put our weekly newsletter "Dealer's Edge" on the site for free. For those who sign up, we will e-mail a listing of the articles in the current issue along with a short summary. The entire article or the whole issue can be downloaded for free. This is a precursor to an even greater presense on the Web and in the retail automotive market that should be ready to announce at NADA 2000.

Thanks for your many postings and the question. Hope this answers your questions satisfactorily.

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Jim Muntz
Publisher WD&S Publishing
jimmuntz@dealersedge.com
Phone 800-321-5312
FAX 800-314-4770

[This message has been edited by jimmuntz (edited 11-07-1999).]

[sallen1]

To Alan and Jim,

I've participated in these forums for what seems like a long time, but it's probably been less than a year. My stores have been subscribers to the various WD&S publications, but the internet give much richer, interactive and more timely content.

I find dealersedge.com one of the better ways to converse with the people that make the auto business better. There is probably no more competitive of a business with such a negative media stigma. That's the reason this thing is taking off so fast: Look what TV did to the car business in the 50's. And that's what makes the internet (or any other 'real-time', cheap communication system) so valuable to dealers.

Think about it: The vast amounts of money spent by dealers advertising their business can now be focused on specific consumers, generally at a fraction of the cost (per 'impression'). But the message needs to be delivered appropriately.

Obviously, those who read these forums are already 'internet active' and as such, do not need much prompting to exploit the benefits. Those oblivious to the power of this communication medium will remain that way. This is one horse that's impossible to get back into the barn an may be just as difficult to catch up to.

Here's a casual observation of dealer web sites: Those that have good content, are quick to display (no big graphics, no 'banner ads',limited use of animations) and make no outrageous claims are rare indeed. Many sites seem to be produced by a vendor or subcontractor and they tend to be weak (no direct communication to employees, lame content and difficult navigation). Just like you can have a bad TV commercial, you can have a bad website and probably not even know it.

While it's imperative that everyone knows how and what the internet can do, it's not going to be the end-all solution. The car business has changed as much as it has not: Dealerships still offer things to consumers you cannot squeeze through a phone line, "SERVICE", and service sells.

scott