Nearly half of car buyers would post an enquiry outside of normal dealership opening hours

Nearly half of car buyers would make enquiries outside of a dealership's normal opening hours.

In total, 42% of potential car buyers would choose to place an online enquiry outside conventional showroom hours of 9am and 6pm.

And 18% of customers make an online enquiry between 10am and 11am, according to Dealerweb.

The second most popular time slot is between 7pm and 8pm (10% of all enquiries).

Martin Hill (pictured), Dealerweb managing director, said: “Customers are choosing to interact with dealers not only during the day, but also once they get home from work.

“Constantly connected customers demand swift and effective responses to their enquiries, which puts the onus squarely on dealers to respond in a timely manner, and with suitable information.” 

Last year Dealerweb conducted consumer research that established 49% of buyers are more likely to complete a car purchase if they receive a response to an online enquiry within one hour.

25% of buyers said they expected a dealer to respond in under 30 minutes, and 10% would take their custom elsewhere after just one hour without a response.