The shift to marketplace-first shopping

Consumer behavior has shifted significantly back to marketplace-first shopping, and Clarivoy’s new independent white paper has the data to prove it. Whether it’s to decide between toasters on Amazon or find their next vehicle on Cars.com, shoppers are skipping search engines and going straight to marketplaces they trust.


Clarivoy’s white paper, Marketplace-First Consumer Behavior: From Retail to Automotive, confirms a massive shift in how people shop — and it’s happening in automotive, too.

• 93% of engaged car buyers use third-party marketplaces during their journey, more than any other site type.

• Only 39% visit an OEM site, and many never do.

• 61% of buyers begin their path to purchase on a marketplace like Cars.com.

This shift is exactly what our marketplace was built for: helping your dealership show up and stand out while buyers are actively deciding what — and where — to buy.

Why it matters for dealers

Cars.com connects you with nearly 29 million monthly in-market shoppers¹, the majority of whom are still undecided:

• 73% haven’t chosen what to buy²


• 88% haven’t chosen where to buy³

• And when they land on your listings, they’re 78% more likely to convert than from Google Ads traffic⁴

Shoppers don’t want to bounce between search engines, manufacturer sites, and dealer pages. They want a trusted place to browse, compare, and move closer to purchase — and Cars.com is where that happens.