Marketplace today took on a more expansive role as a disruptive addition to the way people search for and buy cars, and the way dealers interact with this process.
Australia today became the latest addition to Facebook’s global automotive Marketplace platform, adding to similar countries that joined the platform including Brazil, the United Kingdom and the United States. Germany and Australia today went live concurrently.
Facebook director of Marketplace Partnerships for Asia-Pacific, Christine Chia, told GoAutoNews Premium that Facebook users were already using the medium to find their next car.
“Vehicles is one of the most popular categories on Marketplace and that’s why we’re working with the automotive industry in Australia to make this experience even better for local car buyers,” she said.
“We are expanding our used-car inventory to give people more options to choose from, as well as helping local dealerships reach even more customers.”
The site will initially offer 24,000 vehicles for sale through Australian dealerships. Over the coming weeks, this figure will grow as Facebook brings its Australian arm up to its potential.
Facebook head of automotive for Australia and New Zealand, Ted Bergeron, said Facebook Marketplace was an evolution of the platform, adding that it has evolved to better link a viewer with business.
“Business objectives have changed,” he said. “It used to be about how many ‘likes’ a business or a person has. Now it’s about how many direct customers the business has,” Mr Bergeron said.
In Australia, Facebook will be allowing users to browse the used-car inventory from dealerships who use Facebook Marketplace listing partners, like Dealer Solutions, to link their inventory to Marketplace.
Dealer Solutions product manager, Timothy Dlugosz, who is leading the project to connect dealers with the new product, said it would be a positive shift for the market.
“We have been working closely with Facebook in recent months to ensure we can connect the inventory of our clients and any dealership in Australia, with Marketplace fast, as we currently do for over 140 other advertising destinations such as CarsGuide or Autotrader,” he said.
AutoTrader Australia director, Thomas Jung, said integrating with Facebook Marketplace allowed his company to conveniently reach buyers and provide another source of quality inquiries for dealers.
“This integration aligns perfectly with our own recent introduction to the Australian market, providing a great opportunity to both dealerships and car shoppers,” he said.
“We know our counterparts at Autotrader in the US have experienced great success with Facebook Marketplace and we’re excited to have the opportunity to replicate that here in Australia.”
Mr Dlugosz told GoAutoNews Premium that Facebook Marketplace had “been very well received overseas”.
“Marketplace has always been a place for sellers. Now it has become a more specific avenue for sellers of cars,” he said.
“The advantage of the Facebook marketplace is that it allows a direct feed of automotive stock onto the site.
“There are some differences with which vehicle is being used for this, but in general it is a very efficient method for all dealers to get their stock listed and for a broader audience to view this list.
“At Dealer Solutions we list vehicles for sale as a lead that goes direct to the dealer, with that dealer being the listed agent,” Mr Dlugosz said.
“Some other businesses will act as the middle-man for the process and so the dealer will be secondary.
“One of the many advantages of the Facebook marketplace is that it is free.
“There is no charge to list vehicles or for the leads, which is very different from the model of some automotive sites.
“It gives dealers a very wide audience of Facebook users and, specifically, those who are looking for a car.
“The audience at Facebook is huge. Now by focusing on automotive, this audience has immediate access to a huge range of cars that is convenient and can be viewed and assessed without any need for a buyer to deal with the seller, at least initially.”
Facebook Marketplace also allows dealer principals and sales executives to communicate in real-time with potential buyers via Facebook Messenger, receive free leads directly from Facebook, as well as the informative listings where car shoppers can filter by year, make, model, mileage, vehicle type and transmission.
These are some of the main features that Facebook Marketplace is promoting as enticing dealer principals to become part of the platform.
Carsales product and experience director, Ryan Svaghi, said that Facebook Marketplace was “a new destination for dealers to market their inventory.
“The Carsales distribution service is designed to simplify the process of getting inventory where our dealer customers want it to appear,” he said.
The Drive Network CEO, Chris Polities, said it was a great development for Drive, its used-car partners and Australian car buyers.
“Facebook Marketplace will make it even easier for Aussie car buyers to find their perfect used car and through Drive – and our integration as a Facebook Marketplace listing partner – our used-car dealers will be able to connect with even more potential customers. It’s a real win, win.”
By Neil Dowling
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