SAN FRANCISCO — Media, insights and marketing solutions provider Jumpstart Automotive Media has released its seventh annual “Insights Book.” The yearlong analysis examines shopping patterns across Jumpstart’s portfolio of automotive websites and includes more than 25 million in-market shoppers.

Jumpstart’s analysts found that 62% of visitors who entered a dealer website through its homepage viewed a vehicle description page (VDP) within three clicks. Nearly half returned to the homepage to reset search criteria before moving to a VDP to conduct more research. Remarkably, 64% of shoppers who visited a VDP did so by clicking on a list of vehicle rankings.

Libby Murad-Patel, Jumpstart’s vice president of marketing and strategic insights, said the company uses these insights to track how the path to purchase changes in response to new digital pathways and website features.

“We’re paying close attention to how shoppers are moving through the online auto shopping process: how they’re researching on different devices, how content — especially native content — is prompting them to move down the path in different ways, and how we can work with our clients and publishers to create ad experiences that help consumers make vehicle purchase decisions more quickly and efficiently.”   

Other notable findings include increased interest in luxury brands (+7%), alternative-fuel vehicles (+13%) and hatchback and wagons (+10%). Trucks (-11%) and sedans (-4%) saw the largest drop-off. Chevrolet (9.7%) and Ford (8.7%) drove the largest share of shopper interest during 2016, while Jaguar (+50%) and Fiat (+45%) saw the largest year-over-year increases.

To download a free copy of Jumpstart’s 2016–’17 Insights Book, click here.