Google Reveals Automotive Repair & Maintenance Shopping Secrets and Trends

Here are some interesting automotive repair trends on consumers searching for vehicle maintenance and repair services, for both Do It Yourself (DIY) and Do It For Me (DIFM) vehicle owners. It’s the subject of a report released by the folks over at Google Think Insights and shows the importance of automotive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and paid search. As an automotive digital marketing agency, we enjoy data like this.

(Note: for more market research on auto repair trends and statistics see our recently added Vehicle Repair & Maintenance Reports.)

DIFM consumers were responsible for 77% of the aftermarket’s sales volume in 2012 (excluding tires). That’s only down slightly from a decade ago, when it was 78%. It’s projected to get back to around 78% by 2015 (Google shows it at 80%, we’re assuming they’re rounding up from 78%).

Auto Repair Industry Statistics and Search Trends

Google reveals that repair and maintenance search is outpacing search for vehicles, suggesting that consumers needing vehicle maintenance are increasingly using Google to find a local repair shop. Google also reports 73% of consumers are “definitely” or “most likely” to return to their most recent service provider. That underscores the need for repair businesses to be found in local search results in order to bring in new customers. These customers, in turn, are likely to bring in repeat business.

Also of interest, searches for repair services from smartphones increased 74% in the past year (2012). That reinforces the importance of the concept of the “constantly connected consumer,” the driving force behind the new “enhanced” campaigns in Google AdWords, which deliver ads across computers, tablets and phones.