Edmunds.com Launches Industry-First Tool to Capture Car Shopping Behavior in Real Time
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — December 17, 2015 — According to car shopping destination Edmunds.com, the sales rate of cars during the last week of December is projected to be 106 percent higher than any other week in the month, making it the busiest week of 2015 to shop for a car. In anticipation of the influx of car shoppers during the final week, Edmunds today launched a real-time car shopping tool that enables users to view the top vehicles and brands that shoppers are looking at in any state or local market.
Presented as an interactive heatmap, the tool analyzes shopping activity on Edmunds.com to show the number of car shoppers locally and across the nation, the most popular makes, models and colors considered by shoppers, and the changes in shopping behaviors over time. By capturing the data in three-hour, seven-day and 14-day increments, the tool not only provides real-time insights into car shopping, but also identifies what car shopping trends are emerging at the end of 2015 that can help identify and predict trends in 2016.
"Since most analytics services are unable to deliver data and predictive insights in real time, we saw an opportunity to harness our data and provide a first-of-its-kind service to the industry and consumers," said Jessica Caldwell, director of industry analysis at Edmunds.com. "With this tool, we're able to give dealers and manufacturers the ability to better understand their target audiences and respond to consumer behaviors. The tool can also help shoppers make more informed car purchasing decisions by letting them see which vehicles are trending in their area."
As an example of Edmunds' real-time analytics capabilities, users can discover that BMW, the Mazda 5 and black were the most heavily shopped make, model and color, respectively, yesterday at 4:00 p.m. in the Philadelphia area, while Nissan, the Nissan Pathfinder and light blue were the most-shopped in Miami during the same time frame.
Although December 26 through January 1 are the busiest days to shop for a car, Edmunds' real-time shopping tool can be used as a year-round resource to examine trends and behaviors tied to holidays, cultural events and announcements of automotive industry news. Additionally, with 80 percent of drivers using some form of digital technology to research their buying preferences when shopping for a new vehicle , Edmunds' real-time shopping tool gives consumers the ability to access unbiased, data-driven information about shopper's vehicle choices during any stage of the car shopping process.
To view what vehicles are most popular in your area, please visit: http://www.edmunds.com/analytics/car-shopping-in-real-time.html#state.
About Edmunds.com
Car shopping destination Edmunds.com serves nearly 20 million visitors each month. With Edmunds.com Price Promise®, shoppers can buy smarter with instant, upfront prices for cars and trucks currently for sale at 13,000 dealer franchises across the U.S. Shoppers can browse not only dealer inventory, but also vehicle reviews, shopping tips, photos, videos and feature stories on both Edmunds' wired site and on its acclaimed mobile apps. Regarded as one of the best places to work in Southern California, Edmunds.com was also named one of "The World's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2015 in Automotive" by Fast Company. Edmunds welcomes all car-shopping questions at our Help Center and on Twitter and Facebook. The company is based in Santa Monica, Calif. and has a satellite office in downtown Detroit, Mich., but you can find Edmunds from anywhere on YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+ and Flipboard.
