Cox Automotive research reveals downward trend
Some Holiday: Dealer Traffic Down on Columbus Day
Thursday October 12, 2017
Article Highlights
- This Columbus Day weekend was lower than the six-week average in terms of Dealertrack’s total credit apps and unique apps. Only Columbus Day itself (Monday) was greater than the average. The other days were all below the average.
- Dealer.com’s DataView saw a 5% drop in visits and a 1% drop in vehicle views over Columbus Day weekend compared with the six prior weekends.
- Labor Day weekend also saw a 3% drop in Dealer.com dealership website visits and a very slight (0.25%) bump in vehicle views.
Despite a strong September, Columbus Day weekend car-shopping activity was down this year, according to new data from Dealer.com and Dealertrack (divs. Cox Automotive). Analysts reported a 5% decrease in dealership visits and a 3% drop in dealer website visits when compared with traffic from the six prior weekends.
The decrease can in part be blamed on a particularly brutal hurricane season, but it was indicative of an overall trend toward underperforming three-day holiday weekends, according to James Grace Sr., director of product analytics at Cox Automotive Media Solutions Group.