As the end of the year approaches, so does a brilliant opportunity for automotive retailers. We’re talking about Christmas car sales! Every year, the holiday season brings the holiday sales rush, with plenty of people looking for great deals – including on cars – during the period. So, it’s the perfect time for you to attract more customers and be intensely competitive in the market.
However, cracking the code for holiday sales success can be challenging.
Customers nowadays have a busy lifestyle and wish to avoid queueing up and waiting for a purchase. Also, they want to avoid getting entangled in bundles of paperwork.
As such, it has become essential to go digital and ease the buying journey for your customers. You also need to capture buyers’ attention in the online space, as your rivals are undoubtedly doing the same. However, offline sales channels still remain important, and thus you must maintain focus there too. You must rethink and revise your approach towards marketing, capturing the holiday spirit in the process!
Formulating a pragmatic approach is vital, rather than opening high-end expectations that are difficult to conquer. This way, your business can establish a chain of trust and create a loyal customer base. This blog focuses on progressive ideas to enhance your Christmas car dealership and outshine your competitors in the market.
Car Shopping on Christmas
If you follow car shopping trends across the US, you’ll notice a significant surge around Christmas. Usually, car dealerships and other automotive retailers roll out a lot of exciting deals around the time, to meet their sales quotas for the year and to clear out their inventory for the following year. These include discounted maintenance packages, free accessories, etc. Apart from that, the holiday vibes also draw people into the showroom (or on dealership websites). Couple that with the marketing hype, and sellers often touch impressive sales numbers in December!
“The thing which attracts the eye attracts the soul.”
Is Christmas the Best Time to Buy a Car?
If we go by the record of past years, buying a car on Christmas Eve is quite popular. There are plenty of reasons for that:
- Dealerships offer attractive car deals and finance options
- Excellent customer support and aftermarket available packages
- Holiday bonuses are ideal for a down payment
- Next model-year cars available
- Buying cars as Christmas gifts
Let’s look into these points briefly:
Dealerships offer attractive car deals and finance options
As stated above, dealerships usually offer brilliant offers during the holiday season to meet their yearly targets and clear their existing inventory. With the appropriate offers and discounts, you can significantly boost your Christmas car sales.
Other than that, plenty of retailers throw in free goodies to make the deal sweeter. These can include accessories like floor mats, car fresheners, etc., or even Christmas-themed accessories like reindeer nose ornaments and similar items.
Excellent customer support and aftermarket packages
Dealerships and Automotive Marketplaces offer great aftermarket support during the holiday season. Some buyers can even pick up annual maintenance packages, complete with roadside assistance, for a heavily discounted price.
Holiday bonuses are ideal for a down payment
What do people do with their holiday bonuses? Well, most of them go out and splurge on things they’d wanted all year! An automobile is high on the list of desires for many, which is why many people take a healthy portion of their bonus and put it down as the down payment for their next car.
Next model-year cars available
Usually, car manufacturers roll out vehicles of the next model year during the fall of the running year. So, people can pick up a 2023 model car during the holiday season, with all the updates and upgrades in tow.
Buying cars as Christmas gifts
The holiday season is a time of love and gratitude. And how better to express these emotions than with some thoughtful gifts! Buying a car as a gift is very prominent, and the right Christmas auto deals can do wonders for attracting buyers!
The Best Christmas Marketing Tips for Car Dealerships
Want your automobile retail business to thrive during this holiday season? We got your back! Follow these tips for the maximum impact:
Social media marketing during Christmas
Promoting your business is the most fundamental step in marketing, and social media platforms are the best place to do so! Create engaging holiday-themed posts and roll them out on different platforms – Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, etc.
Collaborate with influencers
Take your social media marketing to the next step by collaborating with influencers. It will help you reach out to a large audience in a relatively short time.
Run targeted adverts
Don’t limit yourself to social media! Your ads and promotions should run on different platforms, including SERPs (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.). Also, remember to set geotargeting for your advertisements, running them in areas that fall within your dealership network’s reach.
Spice up your retail channels
Decorate your dealerships in the holiday theme to make it clear to the world that your business is in the holiday spirit! Even your dealership website or online car marketplace should reflect the same! Use attractive graphic design and banners on your digital channels to announce your dealership Christmas deals when someone checks those out.
Organize Christmas events at your dealership
You can sponsor drives or charity events at your dealerships, keeping in tune with the spirit of Christmas. It can build interest among local customers and publicize your business in a positive light.
Pay special attention to customer support
Expect a lot of rush during the holiday season, on both your offline and online channels. Make sure you have people on standby to reach out to every potential consumer who comes across your dealership.
Pay special attention to your staff
Not just your customers, you need to make sure your team is happy too! Working during the holidays can be tiresome, especially during the sales rush, so make it worth their while! Offer incentives and bonuses to your staff, and remember to praise a job well done!
Run time-sensitive deals and discounts
You can send your leads coupons with “Christmas car specials” tags attached. Of course, these coupons should be time-sensitive; a ticking clock makes people more likely to act on the deal! Also, recommendations of the same can be encouraged by providing bonus points to people for sharing these deals with others. Said points could be redeemed for gifts or future car deals.
Auto Sales Christmas Cards
A little more is always better, and so is the addition of Christmas cards to your dealership’s list of tricks. Both personalized cards and generalized cards can be a great help in glorifying business deals. Also, digitalizing the same would approach finding more customers.
These cards could include the timeline stating the Christmas lease deals with negotiating approach, the best time to lease the car, budget-friendly auto sales, and so forth.
It is wise to continue sending the cards even after the holiday period and take advantage of providing after-Christmas Car Sales. Offering deals even after the holiday season can be a boon to your business.
Best Holiday Car Deals in December
We’ve talked a lot about offering attractive deals in your Holiday sales bonanza. Now, let’s discuss what these deals could be! Here are the different Christmas car deals and offers your dealership can roll out this Holiday season:
Cash discounts
Don’t beat around the bush; just list a direct discount on your vehicles and see curious people flock in!
Free Accessories
You can also throw in a few accessories for free. People love free stuff! You can also personalize deals for individual customers for better results – let people choose from a few items from a plethora of available options.
Trade-in options
Give buyers the option to trade in their older vehicle for an additional discount on their car purchase. Ideally, the exchange bonus should be better than the one you offer all year round.
Collaborate with other businesses in your area
Partner with car wash centers, accessory vendors, insurance companies, etc., to offer additional benefits to your customers.
Easy finance
People hate paperwork and waiting in queues. Partner with banks or other financial corporations to provide simple finance options to your buyers.
Note: Make sure all these deals and offers are listed clearly on your website as well as advertised on your dealership windows.
Make Your Inventory Ready for the Holiday Season
Although essential, dealership Christmas deals aren’t enough to boost your business during the holiday season. You also need to showcase your vehicles properly, so that people can see what they’re about to purchase.
For your offline channels, i.e., in your dealerships, ensure that your cars have been cleaned-up properly. You can also add various props on the dealership floor to engage with visitors.
For your online channels, you need high-quality visuals – images and videos – to create listings. Better visuals make it easier for consumers to research their options and help your business build trust.
How Spyne can Help Prep Your Inventory for Christmas Sales
To get high-quality images and videos, you can go the traditional route: rent or build a Car Photography studio, hire a professional automotive photographer, and invest in expensive photography equipment. This will cost you a lot of money.
Or, you can use Spyne.
Spyne’s AI-powered photography and editing help Car Dealerships and retailers build high-impact visuals for VDPs quickly and affordably. With top-quality automobile catalogs, you can easily outshine your competition!
Be your own dealership photographer with Spyne AI smartphone app. The application guides you through car photoshoots with easy-to-follow instructions and on-screen overlays. No need to wait for the images/videos to process; Spyne AI system can process hundreds of images within seconds!
Worried about the quality of output? Don’t be! The AI system offers top quality consistently, no matter the volume of the work!
Don’t just take our word for it; try it out for yourself! Book a discovery call for a detailed demo of our offerings!
Conclusion
Don’t let the holiday season slip by without making the most of it! With clever marketing, you can boost your sales numbers massively and generate plenty of profits! You also need to offer enticing and competitive deals on your vehicles to catch the consumers’ eyes.
However, marketing can only take you so far; to successfully boost your Christmas car sales, you must list your inventory online with visuals. For maximum impact, ensure that your vehicles are listed using top-quality images and engaging 360-degree car spin videos with Spyne’s help!
