10:45 am, March 12, 2021
Hard hit showrooms will be shown their appreciation with a new competition from advertising marketplace Heycar.
The Lift the Cup campaign will see dealers win a prize every time they sell a car that Heycar has provided the lead for.
Prizes range from Domino’s Pizza vouchers and weekends away, to BT Sports passes and entertainment packages – and even an 80-inch TV.
Every sales person can claim up to five rewards per month by simply recording their sale on the Heycar Lift the Cup microsite.
Karen Hilton, chief commercial officer, said after the tough year there was no better time than now to reward dealers.
Hilton chatted to Car Dealer Live, in a video you can watch above, to explain how the competition works alongside account director Emma Rayner.
Rayner said: ‘The prizes are going to fall broadly into three tiers. In your first tier you’ve got coffee and takeaway vouchers.
‘In the second tier, sports and entertainment passes, right up to the third tier being super exciting things like hotel getaways and entertainment packages including new TVs.
‘Prizes are generated completely at random and they’ll get a prize every time.’
Hilton added: ‘As dealerships prepare to open on April 12, we’re expecting showrooms to see strong footfall with sales activity anticipated to be high.
‘March is traditionally a peak month for sales of new cars, as customers wait for number plates to come in, so we believe sales in April this year will be at a similar level to the March of previous years.
‘This is coupled with the increase in savings people have made while the nation has remained under lockdown, which we fully expect to result in high levels of spending on vehicles from April onwards.’
Bumper months
Key data points from Heycar’s users have hinted to bumper months in April and May for dealers after showrooms reopen.
The activity on its website and enquiries through to dealers increased by 15 per cent following the prime ministers’ announcement that included retail reopening, compared to the previous week.
However, specifics on how these customers are using Heycar suggests customers are preparing to buy and plan on spending more when they do.
Hilton said: ‘The two data points that I found quite interesting are the number of people valuing their current car on the site.
‘That was up 12 per cent last week and if you think about the traditional buying process, if you currently own a vehicle your first port of call is to work out what you currently own is worth.
‘The second bit, which I think is probably the biggest leading indicator, is engagement with the finance tools we’ve got on site.
‘If the Bank of England data is correct then we’re all leaving Covid with an extra £7,000 to £9,000 extra in savings.
‘What I’ve seen in the finance tool engagement is nearly a three per cent increase in people playing with finance quotes.’
Hilton added that while the coming months should see customers keen to buy, there will be a lot of different factors than we saw at this time last year.
She said: ‘What we saw going into this pandemic around February 2020, a lot of dealers have told us they were probably overstocked from a used car volume perspective.
‘Throughout this year dealers have been much more prudent with the stockholding that they carry.’
However, she also highlighted the reduced number of registrations in the market from rental companies and volume of PCP or lease deals that have been extended.
She added: ‘I think what we need is to see this pent-up demand come through in April and May.
‘That’s really the time for dealers to make hay while the sun shines, but hopefully with that comes a swathe of part exchanges and that sweet spot that we see for demand on Heycar is the three-year old cars.
‘Once we get those back into the market, I think April, May and June could be really good months.
‘The bit we’re all waiting to see is whether the Gatwick effect happens in July and August, and whether we just all flock for warmer shores having been locked up for 18 months or whether people are slightly more cautious this year and are pursuing a new car purchase because they’re going to go and roam the UK where they feel safer.’
To watch the interview in full click play at the top of the page or you can find out more about Lift the Cup here.
