The Inventory-Level Video Decision

There is no doubt that inventory-level video helps drive more ready-to-buy traffic to the store. The question holding most dealers back is whether or not it is cost effective for them. The answer is yes for some stores and no for others. In many cases the mathematics needed to determine the difference are not all that difficult.

The objective of inventory-level video is to produce more contacts from a given number of vehicle exposures. Most of the benefit comes from more Vehicle Details Page views (VDPs) to contact the store by phone, email, chat or walking in. Secondarily, shoppers with a strong preference for video may choose to view vehicle listings on third-party sites that include video over those that do not, raising the number of VDPs. Regardless of the increase from one benefit as compared to the other, the end result is a higher quantity of ready-to-buy shoppers contacting the store.

This benefit is very measurable. How many contacts is the store receiving from its listed vehicles and how much does it need to go up in order to cover the cost of producing the video. To establish the value of a contact, one need look no further than the marginal cost per contact from the poorest performing source used or the expected cost per contact from the next best service being considered.

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Related files: 

The Inventory-Level Video Decision.pdf