Lockdown two across England has sparked an instant increase in car-buying and selling online, according to data released by the online car supermarket BuyaCar.co.uk.
As traditional dealers were forced to close their showrooms for the second time this year, BuyaCar.co.uk saw an immediate response from motorists looking for a new car and dealers desperate to keep selling cars by supplying the site with stock.
In the first seven days of England’s new lockdown BuyaCar.co.uk reported increases for every measure of interest in car buying or selling through its platform. Changes included;
a 120% increase in cars reserved for purchase
an 81% rise in applications to finance a car purchase
a 31% increase on the normal rate of motorists signing up for a BuyaCar account
a 9% increase in traffic to BuyaCar.co.uk
1,100 cars added to available stock
As more dealers sign up as suppliers to BuyaCar, the stock available through the biggest online car supermarket has increased by more than 1,000 to make it the biggest online dealer with 64,100 cars available for home delivery.
BuyaCar says that the rush to buy and sell cars online reflects a confident market held back only by coronavirus restriction measures. When Britain’s nationwide lockdown ended in the summer an unprecedented increase in consumer demand saw all car sellers struggling to keep up. The market only began to settle back to more typical levels of activity in October, but the announcement of a second lockdown for England has again boosted the online market.
The increase in stock available through BuyaCar reflects dealer worries around other online competitors continuing to operate as they are forced to close their own doors. Partnering with BuyaCar to supplement their own ‘click and collect’ services compensates significantly for the temporary loss of showroom traffic.
Surging interest in online used cars in particular has come as no surprise to BuyaCar.co.uk, where Chief Executive Andy Oldham described his market outlook as soon as England’s latest lockdown was announced as “bullish”.
Andy Oldham said: “Despite the economic uncertainties caused by the coronavirus crisis there is still a strong general appetite for good quality used cars in particular, so it’s no surprise that demand is shifting online as dealers are once again forced to close their doors.
“Just as we did during the first national lockdown we are seeing that consumers are increasingly comfortable to receive a car they have only seen on-screen, provided it carries a money back guarantee and is delivered to them cleanly and safely.
“And the latest lockdown is actually increasing the choice available to motorists on our site because it is encouraging more dealers to make stock available to us that they can’t sell off the forecourt.
“The latest lockdown effect reveals that motorists and dealers alike are determined to push through this latest market disruption rather than wait indefinitely for life to return to normal.”
*Article Source www.buyacar.co.uk
