RV Trader, an online marketplace for RV shoppers, had more than 4.6 million site visits and nearly 387,000 emails, phone calls, map-to-dealership searches and website referrals generated directly from RV Trader listings in October.
The numbers represent a 4 percent increase in shopper traffic, equating to 40,000 additional buyers, and a 323 percent surge in consumer-to-dealer connections compared to October 2018, according to the company.
That performance coincides with the release of a new RV Trader report that provides insights for dealers seeking to optimize business in today’s RV landscape. The report, “RV Buyer Trends: Who’s Buying and How Can You Capture Their Attention,” is based on a survey of more than 2,000 consumers who shopped for an RV in the past two years.
Key findings include:
- Younger buyers – With Baby Boomers gradually aging out of the RV market, 53 percent of RV purchasers are now 55 or younger. 26 percent are millennials (age 21-35) and 27 percent are Generation X-ers (age 36-55). Both groups also earn more and have different purchase motivations than older RVers.
- Differing renter demographics – RV renters are significantly younger than RV buyers, accounting for 63 percent of the rental audience compared to Gen-X-ers at 30 percent and Baby Boomers at 7 percent. They are also more often employed, have larger households, and are driving the double-digit increases in rental revenue being reported by nearly two out of three dealers.
- New renter/buyer segment – The survey identified a new industry trend – renters who convert to buyers. 76 percent of renters reported they are likely to purchase their own RV within two years. Renter/buyers typically rent at least twice before deciding to buy and are more affluent than renters with 48 percent earning $100,000-plus annually.
The survey also documented extensive details about the path to purchase, including the predominant role played by online research, information that RV shoppers want to see in online listings, and expected response times and communication preferences when interacting with dealers.
“The strong growth in RV Trader traffic and dealer inquiries over the past nine months is clear evidence that consumers are still actively shopping for RVs despite the recent downturn in RV shipments and sales,” said Paige Bouma, VP for Trader Interactive’s recreational brands. “It also shows that RV Trader is their go-to source for information as well as an essential lead generator for dealerships.”
Bouma will discuss how the RV Trader survey findings and industry insights can help dealers take advantage of the growing popularity of RV rentals at 2 p.m. today at the RV Dealers Association Expo in Las Vegas. The session is entitled, “The Rise of the RV Renter: Tapping into the Newest Revenue Stream.”
The full survey report is available here.