– Reservation Request launches early 2026
– Dealers can select £99 reserve or request
– CEO to front recent advisory groups
Online marketplace Autotrader is to introduce a brand new ‘Reservation Request’ option for Deal Builder early next 12 months because it looks to deal with dealers’ concerns over how full online reservations fit with existing sales processes.
The move is the newest adjustment to the marketplace’s controversial end-to-end transaction tool, which got here under sustained criticism from a vocal group of dealers who argued the product reduced retailer control and added operational burden.
The brand new route offers a substitute for the present ‘reserve now’ journey, which allows buyers to position a totally refundable £99 reservation.
Retailer flexibility
Autotrader said the extra option is designed to present automobile dealers greater flexibility while still capturing high-intent online buyers, and that it can be entirely on the retailer’s discretion whether or not they offer full reservations or the brand new request-based approach.
Autotrader said its data indicates that full reservations remain its strongest-performing enquiry type, with the corporate saying some retailers have reported conversion rates of greater than 80%.
It also claims greater than two in three buyers are open to reserving online, while 91% don’t submit some other enquiry for at the least 24 hours after reserving – a signal of upper purchase intent.
Nonetheless, the corporate acknowledged that the total reservation model may not suit every retailer’s current way of working.
How the system will work
Under the brand new system, vehicles won’t display a ‘reservation in progress’ flag on the product page. Buyers and sellers will as an alternative complete a contact step to agree next steps, enabling the sale to progress without requiring a proper reservation. These requests will flow into Sales Hub and/or retailer systems as ‘additional buyer information’.
Autotrader said dealers will have the option to decide on whether to supply the prevailing reservation option or the brand new reservation request feature, in a bid to keep up the integrity of its highest-intent enquiry type while removing friction for businesses that don’t need to commit to a full online step.
The update follows other recent Deal Builder refinements introduced in response to retailer feedback. These include making the ‘Reservation in progress’ flag less outstanding so vehicles proceed to seem available on the market, in addition to removing language suggesting buyers can ‘secure the vehicle’.
Customer advisory groups
The corporate can also be reinforcing its retailer engagement approach with the launch of in-person customer advisory groups in London and Manchester. The primary session is happening this week and will probably be led by Coe.
The advisory format is anticipated to cover not only the broader pace of change around Deal Builder’s rollout, but in addition possible future areas of flexibility reminiscent of a variable reservation fee for various retailers.
The tool was first launched earlier this summer, following an initial launch and trial phase of greater than 15 months and have become an ordinary feature from November 17.
At its latest briefing for automotive retail journalists, Coe said he welcomed the ‘constructive’ feedback dealers had given the firm but insisted Deal Builder was also ‘the most effective products’ the business had launched.
He said: “As we have seen the last couple of weeks, changes aren’t at all times easy. We have now been going at a pace and it turned out that that pace was probably just a little bit quicker than what our customers could handle.
“What we’re really attempting to do with all these tools is give the retailer the flexibility to higher spot where their work goes to be best done and I believe over time, that is where we see the longer term of Autotrader. We all know Autotrader is just not an inexpensive product but we wish to be prime quality, high function – it’s all about giving them wins.”
Complaints acknowledged
Coe also addressed concerns raised across the reservation experience, acknowledging that for some dealers, the shopper journey didn’t connect neatly with their operational workflows.
“Even so, a full reservation is one of the best thing to do. Dealers which were on Deal Builder absolutely love them. All of them know that only a few people cancel, nevertheless it is a giant change for people so we’d like to go a bit slower.”
Coe also linked the intensity of the response to wider economic pressures on retailers and a broader suspicion of technology-led change.
“It was a number of small things on top of a troublesome backdrop for retailers,” he said, adding: “We were going a bit too quick, but only, I might say, with a noble cause – to supply higher quality things.”
Pace of digital roadmap
Autotrader’s argument stays that the long-term prize is a more standardised, higher-utility experience for buyers and a more efficient funnel for retailers, especially as operating costs remain stubbornly high across the sector.
By decoupling the intent signal of a reservation from the operational implications of marking a automobile as being in process, Autotrader is betting it could preserve the worth of its digital transaction roadmap without forcing every retailer into the identical workflow, acknowledging that the longer term of online-to-offline automobile buying is prone to be hybrid for longer than its most optimistic product roadmap assumes.
As Coe put it, the business is attempting to “find the road through it, or the flexibility to adapt to what different people want,” while keeping Deal Builder aligned to the core objective of improving conversion quality and reducing wasted effort.
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This Article First Appeared At www.am-online.com
