The use of mobile devices when searching for used cars to purchase is increasing, according to iVendi.
The online dealer reported that 64% of visits to its consumer areas were by smartphone or tablet in July, up from a 60%/40% split between the mobile devices and a laptop or PC in January.
James Tew, chief executive officer, said: “The move towards mobile has been rapid and dramatic. Our figures show that mobile access first exceeded PCs for visits to dealer websites in January of 2015. Since then, the trend has shown no sign of abating,”
Tew argued that this shows dealers should consider mobile-friendly interfaces for their websites in order for their websites to be productive.
Tew continued: “It underlines something that we have been saying for some time, that dealers and used car portals need to consider mobile first.
“This could be as simple as not using gimmicky functionality within the website, the type of thing which may be highly effective on a laptop or desktop PC but next to impossible to use on a smartphone.”
iVendi also found that among devices, Apple iPhones and iPads were the most popular, with twice as many recorded used car web visits as their Android counterparts.
Tew added: “Really, the number one device for which used car retailers are designing is the iPhone and this is something that we can only see becoming increasingly the case in the medium term.”
