As you might have gathered, we are all about car photos here on WheelStage. More specifically, we are about car photos that grab attention, lead to calls and queries, and ultimately faster inventory turnaround and increased topline for dealerships.

This article will serve as a testament to why we think car photos matter as much as they do - and to back up our point we have gathered quite a body of research to support us. Hopefully this will bring some new insights to the immensely interesting topic of car photography (and no, we don't say that tongue in cheek).

To make this article easier to follow and faster to ingest, we will present the three aspects of how car photos impact dealership sales: Impact on engagement, perception and sales speed.

The 3 pillars of car photography that impact your dealership's sales — The three pillars of how car photos impact your dealership's sales

Let's start with customer engagement.

Impact on customer engagement

According to Cox Automotive over 90% of all car buyers research cars online before turning up to a dealership. And according to AutoTrader / Cox Automotive 82% of car buyers say photos are the most helpful content when shopping online. This means that your dealership's listing photos are one of the biggest things impacting the buyer journey - especially when it comes to attracting eyeballs who click through first to have a look at the full listing.

Buying a car is still very much an emotional thing when compared to something more technical such as say a new TV. Consumers want the photos to give them a reason to proceed with looking at the other details of the listing. And this is where sub-par images fall short, since they fail on that very task.

Bad car photos are like catching water with a glass instead of a bucket — Bad photos are like catching water with a glass — most of the interest slips right past

Bad car photos are like trying to catch water under a shower with a glass instead of a bucket. The water (potentially interested customers) aren't clicking through, if the featured images don't entice them to.

To further strengthen our case and creative metaphor above, a Redline 2024 Survey found that 87% of consumers click vehicle listings with clear, well-lit photos, compared with 13% for blurry or poor-quality photos. What's more, according to XciteAuto VDP (vehicle detail page) engagement increases by up to 675% when poor visuals are replaced with professional lot shots. And if that's not enough 360Booth found that listings with professional photos receive a whopping 47% more views.

These numbers communicate something that every dealership owner should internalize.

Car photos can make it or break it when it comes to your dealership's sales and inventory turnaround.

This is powerful and ties to the engagement behaviour consumers have based on photo quality. But what about the photos' impact on customer trust and perception?

Impact on customer trust and perception

The Redline 2024 Survey we mentioned earlier is really insightful when it comes to customer perception and trust based on car photo quality.

Some important findings from the survey were, among other things that

95% of consumers say professional photos significantly increase perceived vehicle value
Professional photos increase shopper confidence by 806%
57% of shoppers believe dealerships with professional images require less price negotiation

The Redline 2024 survey reveals something important - your car listing photos actually impact how customers perceive the value of the vehicle being sold. So if you want to minimise customer hesitation and haggling, you'd be best off improving the quality of your listing images.

Let's move on to the third pillar, which is the impact on sales speed.

Impact on inventory turnover (sales speed)

The last but by no means the least important pillar is the impact that photos have on the speed of car sales.

360Booth found two important metrics, namely that listings with professional photos sell 32% faster and generate 62% more leads. Bedford Advertising found that buyers will pay up to $1,000 more for a car that looks appealing online. This goes to show that your dealership's car photos can impact both the speed and value at which your inventory is sold.

Another interesting finding is by Auto Dealer Today, which found that dealerships using automated photo editing see up to a 30% increase in sales conversions. This is where efficient workflows and software like WheelStage can come in handy for keeping things consistent and time-efficient.

The length of your sales cycles is directly correlated with the profitability of your dealership business. According to Digital Dealer, average floor plan holding cost is approximately $5.50 per day, per vehicle. Saving even one day of time to market across inventory delivers substantial annual ROI.

This is the reason why fast sales cycles are crucial for the success of your dealership.

Now that we have covered the three pillars, let's move on to some advice especially for those who are looking to boost engagement and sales through software like WheelStage.

What to keep in mind with all this

One thing that's at least equally important to keep in mind is the fidelity and truthfulness of your listings. Tools like WheelStage can be incredibly powerful for making those featured shots grab eyeballs and attention to your listings. But it's also paramount that you give the customer a truthful and honest picture of the item being sold. This keeps the trust high and minimizes the risk of unpleasant surprises when the customer comes in to have a look at the car.

When using software like WheelStage we therefore strongly encourage you to;

Make sure the car is clean and that the shots are taken from a suitable distance and correct angles
Inspect the shots you have processed with WheelStage and compare them with the original shots to ensure it gives an honest representation of the car. We strive to come as close as possible to the original shot in terms of fidelity, while still improving and enhancing the shot with a different background, better lighting etc. We do our best but we can't ensure a perfect 100% fidelity and therefore we highly encourage you to inspect each used image so they do not misrepresent the vehicle being sold.
Don't hide anything in your images, show dents and scratches clearly as well as other things that might not be flattering for the car, but important for the buyer
If you use altered or edited shots, it might be a good idea to have a few unprocessed shots of the car as well. Processed and edited shots might be better at grabbing attention, but if an original unflattering image helps to give a more comprehensive picture to the customer it might be a good idea to include it in the listing photos

We have a post about tips on how to get the most out of WheelStage, so we encourage you to check that one out - especially if you are going to give our software a try — free, no commitments.

Happy car photo editing!

Why Your Dealership's Listing Photos Matter (according to data)

Impact on customer engagement

Impact on customer trust and perception

Impact on inventory turnover (sales speed)

What to keep in mind with all this

Links to sources mentioned in this article