With the theme “Dealership on-demand”, this year’s DealerTalk event, held this week in Toronto, Ont. by Kijiji Autos, presented some key challenges to dealers: step up your game to meet the needs of next-generation car buyers who want everything easier, faster, and mostly through their mobile devices.
Keynote speakers and industry experts gave them practical, hands-on advice about things like optimizing their website performance and SEO, making sure everything is mobile-friendly, learning how to integrate new tools from Google, how to connect with millennials, and how to deliver an enhanced customer experience.
The day ended with a presentation from a futurist that assured the audience that, despite the challenges they face, dealerships can still survive — if they adapt.
The event kicked off with an introduction from Matthew McKenzie, General Manager of Kijiji. He said the Kijiji Autos platform, which was officially launched during last year’s event, has been growing steadily. “We have received a ton of great feedback,” said McKenzie. “The team has been working tirelessly to continue to improve this product.”
McKenzie said the goal is to build a world-class shopping experience for consumers, that will meet the needs of dealers too. “The demand of our consumers, it’s crazy how it’s evolving,” he said. “They want it faster, more convenient, and everything at the tip of their fingers.”
Leanne Kripp, Head of Autos at Kijiji, said the Kijiji Autos brand is resonating with consumers and dealers, and showed examples of the brand’s extensive marketing campaign. “It’s been a very busy year,” she said. “The brand is resonating.”
Kripp said that despite it being a challenging year for many dealers, the company is committed to being their partner. “We are here with you. We aren’t a partner that will go silent in tough times.”
The emcee for the event was Michael Cirillo, automotive marketing expert and creator of the popular Dealer Playbook podcast.
Kijiji Autos held a similar event in October in Montreal.
The company also announced its new Audience Engine at the event, which combines data from Kijiji and Kijiji Autos with insights from partners like Facebook and Google to target the right audience to a dealer’s inventory.
The first Kijiji Innovation Award was also presented, and attendees voted on five finalists who came in from across Canada for the event.
The attendees gave the nod to Brent Buffie of Volvo Winnipeg, whose dealership partnered with Beeproject Apiaries to maintain hives on the dealership’s roof to help raise awareness about declining bee populations. The dealership also sells bee-themed jewellery with proceeds going to inner-city school initiatives.
For full event coverage, see the November/December issue of Canadian auto dealer.
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