Current window stickers and buyer’s guides simply do not represent the look and feel of the modern dealership, which is why an end-to-end software solution is needed to help dealers list and sell their vehicles faster.
When browsing for a new or used vehicle at a dealership, the first thing consumers tend to examine is the window sticker and buyer’s guides on the vehicle’s window. Especially with window stickers being required for new vehicles under the Automobile Information Disclosure Act of 1958 and buyer’s guides being required for used vehicles under the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Used Car Rule, it has become standard practice today for dealers to create and display both.
Whether it’s the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, the make, model, year or other important purchasing and warranty information, window stickers and buyer’s guides for decades have been crucial to the automotive retail process to help the consumer completely understand the vehicle they may be thinking of purchasing.
However, current window stickers and buyer’s guides simply do not represent the look and feel of the modern dealership, which is why an end-to-end software solution is needed to help dealers list and sell their vehicles faster.
What’s Wrong With Current Window Stickers and Buyer’s Guides?
Many consumers find it helpful to see the window sticker and buyer’s guide before purchasing the vehicle, but one of the main issues has been the printer-paper material the window stickers and buyer’s guides typically are printed on doesn’t stick to the outside of the vehicle window, and often is impossible to read because of tinted windows or the sun’s glare.
Also, the window stickers and buyer’s guides don’t communicate the dealership’s brand with custom designs or provide additional mobile-responsive features, such as a scannable QR code that links to the Vehicle Detail Page if the consumer wants to learn more about the vehicle from the dealership’s website, including exterior and interior photos and videos.
With vehicle shoppers spending 59% of their time online researching, including a majority looking for the price of the vehicle (71%), dealers need to be aware of today’s modern software solutions available to not only satisfy window-sticker and buyer’s-guide generation, but also make it easier for today’s mobile-forward consumer to understand more about the vehicle being sold, whether they visit the dealership in-person or browse online.
The New Standard for Window-Sticker and Buyer’s-Guide Generation
To help advance all aspects of the automotive merchandising process, dealers need to have access to software that can easily be accessed from a mobile device l to help streamline window-sticker and buyer’s-guide generation. The dealer will immediately save time and money.
For example, digital generation can change the material of the window stickers and buyer’s guides to stick on the outside of the window and be weatherproof, so the dealer does not have to waste precious time retrieving the vehicle’s keys to add the sticker on the window. This ultimately makes it easier for the consumer to read the information displayed.
There are many other features dealers can explore with their window stickers and buyer’s guides, but the new standard in generating them should come from one device that is in-house at the dealership, without having to use a different application or rely on a separate vendor, while remaining compliant with federal law.
Peter Duffy (pictured, above left) is the founder and CEO of Dealer Image Pro, a professional photo, video and 360° software company that helps auto dealers take their merchandising in-house by offering equipment, training, professional editing and quality control.