Thinking in Public
Women buy 65% of new vehicles and influence 85% of household buying decisions overall, according to Ward's Auto. Walk into most dealerships and nothing about the floor, the finishes or the pitch was built with her in mind.
Fix that and you've built a dealership. Some of what it would carry:
Real colour and real finish options, offered as standard.
A cappuccino with a heart drawn in the foam, or a Bloom energy drink. A reason to sit.
Cars for the soccer mom, or a line of Jettas for girls. Models picked for school runs, the gym bag, the soccer schedule.
The website and the sales floor speak to the person signing for the car, directly, first.
In a March 2022 survey of 2,200 US adults run by Morning Consult for Caribou, 27% of women said concern about gender-based discrimination at dealerships had left them discouraged from buying or leasing a car in the future. Among Gen Z women, 48% said they felt discouraged about visiting a dealership over concern about being treated unfairly because of their gender.
Picture one dealership that changes four things for 90 days: a real coffee counter, a lineup shown with school bags and gym bags in the photos, a website that speaks to the person signing, and a colour menu offered up front.
Ask every buyer one question at the desk: what made you walk in? Count how many women come through the door and how many sign. If the answers keep saying "it felt like it was for me", build more.
Women are where the money is. If you want to make money online, sell to women. Women over 50 are going to have real spending power, and I found one market nobody's building for here. This is another.
Build the dealership. She's already the one signing.