In the competitive world of automotive sales, first impressions are one of the key differentiators. A report by Google and Kantar highlights that 95% of consumers buying vehicles start their car-buying journey digitally. This means that their first touchpoint with a dealership or seller is looking at images online.
Still, many sellers miss the importance of high-quality visuals, they rely on average, dimly-lit low-resolution images that fail to showcase the vehicle’s best features. This has major financial consequences, wherein the user scrolls through a good-conditioned vehicle based on the imagery that is on the internet. According to a Cox Automotive study, “60% of car buyers will skip a listing with poor-quality images, even if the price and specifications are appealing.”
A 2022 AutoTrader survey sheds light on how listings with high-resolution images and good visuals receive approximately 163% higher engagement rate in comparison to the ones with subpar visuals.
The automotive industry is evolving and the consumers expect nothing short of magic when investing time in finding a product online. They expect a digital experience that would be similar to them being physically present in the showroom. If the visuals are not inspiring buyers, they will move on to the next listing.
Psychology further reinforces the power of visuals and research shows how human beings tend to form first impressions in just 50 milliseconds. When an image fails to captivate or convey trust, potential buyers disengage almost instantly.
The Digital Showroom Effect
In today’s world, your website is your digital showroom and the first touch point with the buyer. However, many sellers consider it an afterthought and end up using low-quality generic images that don’t do justice to the vehicles they are trying to sell. Sellers have to understand that bad-quality images lead to bad sales.
According to a study, 60% of car buyers will skip a listing if the image quality is poor regardless of how great the deal is or how great the condition of the vehicle is. That’s millions of lost revenue due to a lack of high-quality images.
The Hidden Costs Of Bad Visuals
Bad visuals will lead to lower engagement as with high-quality images, sellers will have more views along with longer browsing time on their digital showroom. Poor images will also lead to fewer leads making buyers hesitant to reach out to the dealership. Not only this, inconsistent or unprofessional images make a dealership appear unreliable and less credible.
The Emotional Power of Great Visuals
A lot of consumers are buying their first car and it is an emotional experience for them, for some they are buying their dream car. So the dealership is not just selling a vehicle but selling an emotion. There is a journey that has made your buyer reach a point where he can afford to buy a car. It is a dream. By looking at just the image, they want to imagine themselves in the car and the image of the car needs to make them feel aspirational rather than just functional.
Brands like Tesla and BMW for instance, don’t just show a nice car but they curate a consumer experience for their target audience. Looking at just the car's visuals evokes a sense of luxury, innovation, grandeur, and experience. That’s what a consumer expects while looking to buy a car.
Winning the Visual Game: A Simple Fix
Winning the visual game in car sales is not complicated. It requires a more strategic approach and investing time and money in the right tools. High-resolution and well-lit images can rapidly boost click-through rates, making professional photography a small but impactful investment.
In a market where buyers make snap decisions, visuals are everything. Dealerships that invest in great visuals aren’t just showcasing cars, they’re building trust and giving consumers a different experience. This enables buyers to rely on these dealerships and set expectations that ultimately lead to closing more deals.
Sanjay Varnmal is the co-founder and CEO of Spyne. Views expressed are the author’s own.