Signs of the Times . . .

The Impact of Marketing RV Products and Services on the Internet

In 1995 when RV companies first started thinking about using the Internet as part of their marketing plans, few of us could have predicted or even imagined how important it would become. In only five years, the Internet has totally changed the way business is done in today's world. And it is continuing to change as more and more people get online, as more and more companies incorporate new technologies, and more and more consumers turn to the Internet to help them decide what to purchase and where to buy. Few would argue that the Internet is certainly an important sign of this time in our history.

As incredible as it may seem and despite the overwhelming impact the Internet has had on people's buying patterns, there are still companies in the RV industry -- if fact, some major companies -- that continue to resist having a web site. In the meantime, other companies with a vision for the possibilities of this phenomenon chip away at the market share of these slow movers and thinkers.

In early 1996, RV News ran a guest editorial by a marketing expert who said companies that are not using the Internet to market their products and services will be out of business by the year 2000. While that prognostication fell short of the precise date, there is growing evidence that his thought process was right on target.

Almost 2 in 3 Americans over the age of 12 have access to the Internet and half of those go online every day, according to A.C. Nielsen. Regular users are likely to spend at least an hour online at a time.

Nearly half of U.S. Internet users have purchased a product or service online. Email is the most used Internet application, with 86% of Internet users regularly sending and receiving email.

Travel products and services have been bought online by 28% of users. Almost 70% of users go online most often at home. 17% connect most often in their place of work.

But naysayers like to believe that the Internet is used mostly by teenagers and others who are not in the core demographics of the primary target audience of buyers of RVs and other products and and services relating to the RV lifestyle ­ those 45 years and older. Their competitors hope they will continue down this false path because everyday that goes by, those with a vision for the Internet, and who have already invested in an Internet presence, are capturing new customers.

And for those who believe "their customers do not use the Internet" it is a totally false premise and unsupported by facts.

As of April 2000, older users now comprise the fastest growing demographic group in the U.S. Internet market, according to Media Metrix.

One fifth of U.S. Internet users are aged between 45 and 64 and more and more people in this age group are going online.

The Media Metrix study shows that users in this age group access the Internet more often, stay online for longer and visit more web sites than younger users.

People who fall into this demographic are highly desirable targets for advertisers as they have the most credit cards and use them most frequently.

And while those over 45 are less comfortable with buying on line, they are turning to the Internet to get all the information they will need to make a good buying decision.

According to a recent AARP survey, Internet users over the age of 45 are reluctant to purchase online, preferring instead to comparison shop on the Internet and complete purchases in a store or over the telephone.

The AARP study also shows that over half of Internet users in this age group comparison shop online but only 39% of those shoppers actually pay for their goods online.

Almost half of those who begin their shopping online eventually buy the product in a store while 22% complete the transaction over the telephone.

Privacy and security are major concerns for older users: 93% of those surveyed feared personal information would be vulnerable to abuse and misuse if they provided that information in the course of conducting a financial transaction online.

Just over 80% of computer users over 45 have access to the Internet and email is their most frequent online activity. Only 10% do not use email. One quarter of older Internet users trade stocks and shares online and 19% conduct banking transactions over the Internet.

And yet another study shows that web marketers are ignoring this senior population, and this offers RV industry companies a great opportunity by making their sites senior-friendly. The survey was conducted by a group called The Third Age. Their study proclaims, "Mar-keters who fail to recognize the growing convergence of seniors online are missing out on one of the Net's fastest growing groups.

"Seniors have proven their ability to throw technophobia to the wind and grasp the handles of an often alien medium like no other age group."

And people, seniors included are buying more than books online. They are buying high ticket items such as cars, for example. Why? Well, one reason might be that they tend to be less expensive.

According to a new survey from JD Power and Associates, consumers who use an online car buying service in the U.S. save an average of $490 on the purchase of a new vehicle.

Car dealers who participated in the survey said that customers who were referred to their dealerships by an online service were usually given a discounted price without even asking. The dealers are also willing to bring a new vehicle to an Internet customer's home for a test drive.

Twice as many car dealers are now availing of the online services to attract buyers than in 1999.

The survey also showed that so many customers are now being referred to dealers through the Internet that dealerships are struggling to keep up with demand. Only 12% of all Inter-net-generated new vehicle leads were brought to a sale by dealers in the past year, compared with 15% the year before.

The automotive industry continues to be one of the fastest growing online sectors.

And even those car buyers that do not buy online use the Internet to shop prior to purchasing. In another study from 1999, JD Power & Associates found that 40% of U.S. consumers who recently purchased a car or truck used the Net to shop for the vehicle. This compares to just 25% of consumers the year before.

The study calculated that in the first quarter of 1999, more than 25,000 car or truck buyers a month used the Internet when researching a new vehicle purchase, up from 12,500 per month in 1998. Overall, 2.6% of car buyers now use the Internet, compared to 1.1% last year.

In terms of used car buyers, the study found that 26% of U.S. car consumers that purchased a model in the 1994 to 1999 range used the Internet when making a decision. This compares roughly to 14% of this consumer group in 1998.

Unlike cars buyers, RV buyers are not making purchases online, but rather using the web as a resource to discover the RV lifestyle and to do research prior to visiting an RV dealer. Buyers who walk onto the dealer's sales lot today are more educated about brands and models, have a better idea of what they are looking for and may have already picked out a floorplan. Now they want a few questions answered, get a feel for the RV itself, and can be an easy sale, if the salesperson doesn't do something to mess up the deal.

According to Dan Holt, CEO, Web Site Management, Inc., a company specializing in hosting RV company web sites through the portal site, RV America, RVs will probably never be sold directly online without personal contact with a dealer. He said, "First of all, RVs are not commodities like cars. They tend to be more expensive than cars and there are too many brands and options to select from. That buyer needs to actually sit down in an RV, or drive it if it's a motorhome, and see if the unit appeals to their inner being ­ an RV is not just transportation."

Holt also pointed out that what he's hearing from customers on RV America is that leads coming from their Internet site have become an ever-increasing important source of business. And while the sales transaction isn't completed online, the web site is the catalyst for the sale. For example, Hitcharama, a New Jersey RV dealer, says last year 15% of all its sales of new and used RVs came as a result of leads generated on the Internet, up from 10% in 1998.

Holt estimates that RV America was responsible for more than $350 million in business during 1999, including sales of new and used RVs by dealers, rentals by RV rental dealers, sales of private party RV listings through the RV America Classifieds, and the multitude of sites selling parts, accessories and service.

"There is just so much about RVs and RV lifestyle that makes the Internet an excellent medium to promote these products and services," Holt said. "Those companies that are using the Internet are getting a lot of value for their investment and it's just going to get better."

Let's Communicate

But Not in "ALL CAPS"

One of the most frequent blunders for new Internet users is the use of the "Caps Lock" key on their keyboard. It's not only a breech of Internet manners, Netiquette, it's also very hard to read blocks of type in all capital letters.

Numerous studies have shown that readers who try to read copy written in all capital letters have less comprehension than when reading copy that is written in normal upper and lower case. All caps forces the reader to focus his or her eyes on a letter group that comprise a word which slows the pace of reading down, tires the eyes more readily and causes the reader to become fatigued sooner. So if you are trying to make a strong point by using all capital letters your audience may not be getting or understanding your message.

People are taught to read using upper and lower case letters, so our eyes flow over the text, when the copy is in all caps that flow is restricted and therefore the message has less impact.

And if you use all capital letters on the Internet, either through email or as informational copy on your web site, you are telling the reader you're hopping mad and shouting at them, or even worse, that you are ignorant of Internet etiquette. Neither of these messages is what you want to send to a customer, unless of course you really are mad and intended to shout.

So if you are really trying to communicate, avoid the caps-lock key and your message will be better understood.

It's all about communication.

Women Drive U.S. Internet Growth

Women are now driving the growth of the Internet in the US, according to a new report from the Strategis Group. The number of online women in the U.S. has tripled in the past 30 months to 49%.

Internet use in general was up 25% in 1999 over the previous year as 60% of all adult users went online every day. There were 43% more home users in 1999 than in 1998 and almost half of U.S. households are now connected to the Internet.

The report "Internet User Trends" says U.S. consumers spent $3.6 billion on products and services from Internet retailers in 1999. This contrasts quite starkly with the recent BizRate estimate of $16.2 billion for b2c (business to consumer) e-commerce last year.

About 20 million people now spend more than $50 online each month and the average monthly spent at Internet retail stores is $68.50. Only 30% of male users say they shop online, in comparison with 40% of female users.

Men Spend More Time Online At Home & Work

New data from Nielsen NetRatings shows that men continue to use the Internet more often than women.

Men comprised 54% of those who logged on at work in the U.S. in February 2000 and surfed for an average of 22 hours during that month in comparison with an average of 18 hours for women online at work.

Although half of all home Internet users are now women, they still spend less time online than men do. Women were only online at home for an average of 8 hours while men spent 10 hours surfing.

Yahoo sites were the most frequently visited web properties by work users while AOL came second. This order was reversed by home users. MSN, Excite and Lycos were third, fourth and fifth respectively, both at home and at work.

More Travelers Turn to Web for Booking Travel Arrangements

The number of people using the Internet to book airline tickets and hotel accommodations grew by 146% last year, according to a new report from the Travel Industry Association of America.

In a survey of over 1,200 U.S. adults the group found that there was a strong correlation between those who used the Internet and those who were frequent travelers. 53% of travelers use the Internet compared to 45% of U.S. adults. Of those that purchased a travel item online in the last year, half, 8.2 million, were frequent fliers.

Microsoft Clear Winner in Browser Wars

Zona Research declared an end to the browser war as Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) and Netscape Navigator dominate the entire corporate market. In a study of 300 IT professionals, Zona's Web Browser Study found that 64% of respondents use Internet Explorer as their primary browser and 36% name Navigator.

And 69% of companies nam-ed IE the specified browser of choice and 31% of companies named Navigator as the policy browser.

In the first ever Web Browser Study conducted in 1996, a mere 2% of users polled named IE as their preferred browser while 71% named Navigator.

RVN