New Study: Mobile App Users Become More Frequent Visitors to Dealership Service Department; Visiting Nearly 50% More Often Than Non-App Users

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Aug. 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- DMEautomotive (DMEa) today released new research proving that mobile app users become more frequent visitors to a dealership's service department after they download the app. The study looked at 307 dealerships nationwide that offer a dealership-branded mobile app and compared the 6-month service visit frequency of consumers after installing the app, versus prior to downloading.

According to the research, after downloading a dealership's mobile app, users'

• 6 month service visits increased by 25% after download of the app
• service visit frequency grew 3.7 times faster than non-app users

"These are remarkable findings," said Marcie Hopey, Director of Strategy for DMEautomotive. "While most dealers may think a branded mobile app is a 'nice to have,' this proves that not only do apps engage customers in unprecedented ways, they also deliver significant incremental service revenue."

DMEautomotive estimates an annual lift of $144,000 in incremental service revenue for every 1,000 app users.

"This is striking evidence that a dealer-branded mobile app designed to keep customers engaged drives real service revenue," said Mike Walther, president and CEO of DMEautomotive. "Combined with our previous research showing that a customer with a dealership-branded mobile app is 73% more likely to buy a vehicle from that dealer than a customer without one, and app users spend 7% more on their vehicle purchase than non-app users, it's clear that apps have a profound and positive revenue lift on both the service lane and in the showroom."

The DMEautomotive research studied over 2.2 million consumer records between the months of 04/2013 and 06/2014. The study covered a mix of 307 dealerships, representing multiple brands, store sizes, and regions, all of which offer Driver Connect, DMEautomotive's dealership-branded mobile app, to their customers.

For further details on mobile app users vehicle purchasing behavior, click here.

About DMEautomotive
DMEautomotive (DMEa) is the industry leader in science-based, results-driven automotive marketing, and provides turnkey marketing to the largest and most innovative automotive organizations, from automobile dealerships to many of the largest aftermarket companies in the U.S. DMEa's uniquely panoramic view of the complete automotive sales and service market, combined with its cutting-edge, science-based marketing programs, increases customer yield, conversion and retention. 

DMEa does not take marketing performance on faith, and each product and service is measured by a simple, precise scientific approach: Is it true? Prove it. Will it work? Test it. Does it generate results? Show it! Supported by DMEa's proprietary, cloud-based Red Rocket Technology Platform, the DMEa product suite includes science-based, data driven, multi-channel customer acquisition and retention marketing programs; best-in-class campaign reporting; data management and analytics; auto-focused Customer Interaction Center solutions, and complete on-site mail and email fulfillment services. Headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida, DMEa also has major operations in Jacksonville, Florida. 

SOURCE DMEautomotive