Enabling car classifieds for Carpages.co.uk

The Solution

Skupe Net was able to provide Option 2 as an enterprise-strength hosted service on an outsourced basis through its own classifieds solution, Brandbuilder. This was integrated into the Carpages web site in April 2007, taking only a matter of days to implement across the entire site. It has proved easy to use with its impressively fast car search facility, carrying a huge inventory of over 200,000 cars from day one. It also incorporates relevant advertisements to every existing page of content in innovative ways. The Skupe Net solution is provided without any branding, so Carpages' own brand is strengthened, not diluted, and also communicated to dealers by Skupe Net.

Skupe Net also sells Carpages advertising to dealers via its own established sales network and includes performance reporting in the package.

Results

There was an immediate increase in the desired user engagement with a big increase in the length of user sessions.
The car search tool now accounts for over 15 per cent of the total number of Carpages pages delivered, and the display advertisements placed on each of the car search pages have resulted in much increased revenues. In addition the demographics of users searching for cars is now better understood, which in turn allows more focused banner advertising campaigns generating still more additional revenue through the higher cost of such advertisements. Greater brand awareness amongst users has resulted in Carpages being ranked as a top 10 UK motoring classifieds destination by Hitwise, in addition to its ranking as a Top 20 motoring website. Greater brand awareness amongst car dealers has led to a number of the top 10 UK motor retail groups advertising regularly on the Carpages site.

About Skupe Net

Skupe Net Limited specialises in search technology and supplies strategy, processes and sales channels to integrate seamlessly with its clients' web sites. In the case of Carpages, its Ad-Centric™ technology provides the inventory system for dealer listings and car locators, plus the ability to link everything together to give visitors all the information they require. The result is that consumers and sellers are put in touch with each other more quickly and more effectively.