Consumers in Quebec are more inclined to use “traditional” methods of shopping for a vehicle than other Canadians, according to a recent Kijiji Autos study.
The report, New Opportunities for Dealers in Times of Significant Change, was done in collaboration with BrandSpark. It examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on car shopping across Canada, who the new shoppers are and how to reach them, and how to capitalize on the “considering new and used” shopper. (More on that here.)
As part of the survey, raw data of the regional breakdown of each province indicates that 42% of consumers in Quebec who are shopping for a vehicle avoid face-to-face visits, compared to 54% of Canadians. Quebecers are also less likely to use online chat (22% versus 33%), email (20% versus 35%), but are more likely to pick up the phone (40% versus 35%).
The study also indicates that car shoppers in Quebec arrive more prepared when visiting a dealership (48% in August versus 39% in February, pre-COVID-19). And the percentage of Quebecers who started searching for a vehicle at a dealership is now trending down from 25% in February to 15% in August.
Furthermore, car buyers in the province use classified ads more than other Canadians when searching for a vehicle — with Quebecers performing 11.8 searches on classified ad platforms compared to 9.7 for the rest of the country.
More details about the report can be found in our DealerTalk 2020 coverage in Canadian auto dealer’s December issue.
