Steve White, Founder and CEO of Clarivoy, said, “[It is] a wake-up call to dealers that so much activity is happening in the marketplace. They really need to challenge themselves to test a different type of media mix and not giving 50% to 60% of their budget to search [engines]. Instead, that money would be better spent on marketplaces”.

In a 2024 study by Clarivoy and AutoTrader.ca, which looked at 2,200 vehicle sales from 2022 to 2023, the result was that 55% of shoppers went to AutoTrader.ca first, before they engaged with Google paid advertisements in their car shopping journey. What’s more, the same research validated that AutoTrader.ca played a pivotal role in influencing 60% (+/-2%) of the sales. Google paid ads, including search ads and vehicle listings, resulted in only 6% of sales; but even among those, 70% of these buyers still visited AutoTrader.ca throughout their journey.

Consumer shopping behaviour and the ability to track the car shopping journey from beginning to end are relatively new, and dealers who shift their focus quickly will see the most impactful returns. Among other retail products, online marketplaces have experienced traffic increases. Walmart, for example, found that 33% of shoppers went directly to its website where they used to default to Google. If consumers see an advertisement on television or digital channels, they immediately look for it on the platforms of key players in the space, such as Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, or others.

A similar study, albeit in a different vertical, demonstrates that when Samsung realized customers were going to marketplaces rather than its site, its marketing team opened ad exposure to retail partners. The result was a 19-times improvement in Samsung’s ability to tie media spending to actual sales.

There are several reasons why consumers are going straight to marketplaces for research, and a main one is that they prefer a familiar locale that includes reviews and pricing. They also aren’t required to then take steps to get to another location to purchase the item. With most consumers now shopping that way for everyday items, they maintain common shopping behaviour with large purchases, including vehicles.

A Car Buyer Journey Study released in early 2025 by Cox Automotive, which surveyed 2,310 buyers, showed that 72% of all car shoppers visited a third-party website during their buying journey while only 39% of visited an auto manufacturer’s website. In its research on engaged buyers, Clarivoy found that 61% of auto buyers made an online marketplace their very first stop. While it’s essential for a dealership to maintain a website, dealers must also realize that many shoppers are bypassing it in favour of online automotive marketplaces like AutoTrader.ca.