Van buyers are online and automotive must catch up

Sales of Light Commercial Vehicles have boomed since the onset of COVID-19, but the sector has been slow to adapt to the demands of the online shopper.

LCVs are currently one of the few bright spots in the European automotive market. Last year, sales of vans increased by over 10% at the same time as the passenger car market shrunk -1.5% below its already poor level of the previous year. The drivers of this growth are pretty obvious: the shift to working from home, and the increase in e-commerce — both accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic — have seen a huge increase in home deliveries and, consequently, in the demand for light vans.

A recent study that Sophus3 undertook in conjunction with LinkedIn, shows that to make the most of this opportunity automotive OEMs need to extend and accelerate their digital transformation. The study, presented at LinkedIn’s Auto Inspire virtual event in February, shows that whilst there is a huge online audience visiting commercial vehicle pages on car brand sites, the needs of the LCV audience are relatively under-served. The opportunities for a van buyer to interact with a brand directly, and to get the specific and personalised response that they would like, are often limited compared to what’s on offer to a buyer visiting the same brand’s passenger car site.

Manufacturers seem to have little awareness of the information needs of their potential customer, or of their impatience. Sophus3 found that over 55% of visitors to commercial vehicle pages ‘bounce’ — that is, exit the site after reviewing just a single page. This is far higher than for other sectors and indicates a yawning gap between the visitor’s expectations and what they are provided with. The other visit metrics for LCV pages support this view:

The complete findings of the study are contained in our short white paper, Getting digital right for commercial vehicles. You can download a copy of the document here.

If you would like to find out more about Sophus3’s range of digital services to the automotive industry please contact [email protected].