Online shopping for purchasing a car has never been more popular. But what about if you want to compare leases through an online channel? According to participants of a recent survey from Wantalease.com, in the U.S., many respondents wouldn’t even know where to start.
Executives at Wantalease.com and its sister marketplace, Swapalease.com, were curious about how average drivers feel about the online research and shopping process on a new lease. A survey conducted throughout the month of June, 2014, was presented to more than 1,000 drivers across the U.S., to gain insight into online shopping for a new lease.
Key Highlights
• When researching online to buy a car, the majority of men prefer KBB.com (72.2 per cent), while women prefer Craigslist.org (66.1 per cent). Swapalease.com executives believe this is because women are more familiar and comfortable with Craigslist having used the site to buy and sell a variety of items, in addition to cars. It is believed men prefer KBB.com because of its deep attachment to the automotive industry;
• Where do you go online to compare new lease deals? The majority of survey participants (approximately 60 per cent) said there is either no current online destination for new lease offerings, or the existing destinations are “useless”;
• The majority of respondents say convenience, access to inventory, and comparison shopping are the largest benefits to online shopping;
• The majority of respondents say the true price, car offered and the need to still speak with a dealer in person are the biggest drawbacks to online shopping. Broken down further, the majority of women indicated inaccurate information online (46.3 per cent) and men indicated not enough information online (53.5 per cent) as their largest frustrations in online shopping;
• While survey participants expressed their frustration with a lack of comparison options for researching a new car lease online, the majority of respondents also wrote in that they would like more choices for used car leasing and payment calculators as well.
“The survey validates why Wantalease.com was launched to help level the playing field and provide more options for online research and shopping on brand new lease deals,” said Scot Hall, Executive Vice-President of Wantalease.com.
For the actual results of the study, click here.
