These days shopping online is just about possible anywhere
. Most companies now have their own websites and many include shopping facilities and checkouts so you can buy yourself something at any time of the day. Well now if you have an iPhone it is possible to search out new and used cars online whilst you are on the move with a number of new apps available for download.
Some car dealers are now developing iPhone apps that will allow you to search their sites new and used car fleet to see what is currently available on the market. Whether you are interested in buying from main dealers, small local operators or a bloke around the corner all are able to advertise brand new vehicles and second hand cars on sites.
Many of these iPhone apps are linked with social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter that allow you to join their members' club and keep informed of latest offers or special deals as and when they are announced. Although mobile WAP applications for phones have been around for a few years now, these tended to be just text versions of the original site. The latest technological developments and mobile phone advancements means that they are able to make the sites look more interesting and in many cases they have the same visual appearance as would be found on the companies main website.
The newer mobile versions of car dealer and car magazine websites utilise the higher spec graphics and touch screen functions that modern phones now possess. They are capable of displaying clear pictures and with their inbuilt GPS ability make it simpler to identify the locations of the vehicles. This adds a lot more usability and fun for the customer and gives them greater access to the thousands of available cars on the market.
There are lots of companies using mobile sites but the latest developments in Apple's iPhone apps have led to dealers targeting a specific audience and engaging with them socially on their mobile devices. Reports from mobile users claim that as many as 45% of all mobile searches conducted for new and used cars are through iPhone apps. Although there are plenty of other services and phone providers in the market, Apple is obviously leading the way with this specific technology and its Apple store proves this.
Auto Trader have recently updated their mobile provision to include the iPhone app and have found that a lot of customers use the system to research offers, prices and availability. Search and discovery are the key aspects of mobile phone shopping for car buyers.
Auto Trader believes that as the service gains more traction with users and mobile technology further develops then over time its users are only likely to increase. This will take the retail experience out of stores and magazines and will see more retail sellers, both companies and private individuals, using mobile phone services to advertise their products.