Sky-Is-Rising-Luxury-Goods

LUXURY CARSThe global market for luxury cars has grown from €210billion (about $276 billion) in 2009 to €320 billion(about $421 billion) in 2013, a 52% increase at a CAGR of11%. According to Digital Luxury Group, cars made up 48%of more than 470 million luxury brand Google searches inthe U.S. in 2011, with automakers BMW and Audi being thefirst- and second-most searched luxury brands, respectively.These two automakers are also the top two automotivebrands that dominate social media channels, such as Facebookand Twitter. Despite the recession, high unemployment,and expensive gas prices, it seems that Americans still spentmany hours online researching luxury vehicles that oftencost more than the median U.S. household income.According to L2 Think Tank, 80% of Americans use theinternet to research vehicles before making their purchase,and a 2012 study by mobile advertising company Briabe indicatesthat 87% of prospective car buyers will use mobiledevices to research vehicles. A majority of automakers (86%)have already created mobile-optimized sites with advancedfunctionality, and they’re beginning to challenge third-partyreference sites, with customer service features, such as detailedFAQs, live chat, and prompt followup on dealershipreferrals.Consumers are also buying cars from their mobile devices.While companies like eBay, Carvana, or Amazon aren’t sellingnew luxury vehicles, their online sales experiments havedemonstrated that consumers are willing to buy big ticketitems such as vehicles directly from their phones. eBay, whichsells more than 11,000 pre-owned vehicles through its onlineauctions each week, has created its own eBay Motors appto handle the high traffic from mobile shoppers. Carvana, astartup that buys cars at auctions and then sells them online,uses high-definition photo technology to give shoppers theability to zoom in on the actual vehicle (not a stock image)to see everything in detail, including imperfections that carbuyers may not notice on the lot. Carvana is using technologyto change a very old and established industry, and hasLUXURY AUTO MARKET2009€210bFAST FACTS & FIGURES2013€320b52% CAGR 11%of 470-million luxury brand Google48% searched were for cars in 2011of Americans use the internet to research80% vehicles before making their purchaseof prospective car buyers will use87% mobile devices to research vehiclesof automakers have created mobile-86% optimized sites with advanced functionsshown that people will buy vehicles with their phones. Amazon.comsells practically everything, but it doesn’t sell cars.However, it recently partnered with Nissan to promote the2014 Nissan Versa Note through a product page on its website.While the Versa Note product page on Amazon.com isn’tas visually appealing as Nissan’s official one, it does providelots of information about the car for shoppers who are researchingthe vehicle. Instead of the usual Amazon “Add tocart” button, there’s one that says “Visit Versa Note,” whichtakes shoppers to the official Nissan Versa Note page. Shopperscan then enter their ZIP code to find offers from localNissan dealers. As part of the promotion, the first 100 VersaNote buyers who initiated their purchase through AmazonThe Sky Is Rising: Luxury MarketsFloor6417