As a car dealer, you’ll encounter two types of customers: active car buyers and passive shoppers. Both could help your dealership turn a profit, so understand the differences so you can tailor your approach accordingly.
So, what is the difference between active and passive buyers? Discover the main distinctions between these two types of customers and specific strategies for appealing to each in this guide.
What Is an Active Buyer?
An active car buyer intends to buy a vehicle soon and is taking meaningful steps toward making a purchase happen. They may be engaged in steps like:
- Researching and comparing specific makes and models
- Looking for deals and discounts
- Exploring financing options
- Asking detailed questions about the cars they’re interested in
- Visiting the dealership to view and test-drive specific vehicles
Active buyers aren’t messing around, they have an immediate need for a car. They have a relatively clear idea of what they want in a vehicle and just need to gather a bit more information before purchasing.
What Is a Passive Buyer?
On the other hand, a passive buyer doesn’t have as clear a picture of the vehicle they might want to buy. They’re not actively pursuing any available vehicles. Instead, they’re exploring their options without any immediate pressure to purchase.
You can tell someone is a passive buyer if they come into your dealership and look at all the vehicles without focusing on any particular model. They might ask general questions out of curiosity and browse your inventory, but not go any further.
Adapting Your Strategies for Active Buyers
Since their approaches to car buying are so different, active and passive car buyers require unique strategies to appeal to them.
Active buyers often already have a strong idea of which vehicle, make, and model they want, so you don’t need to waste much time convincing them why a specific vehicle is excellent. Instead, focus on tactics like:
Sharing Special Offers
Both price and interest rates are major deciding factors for active vehicle shoppers. Most surveyed vehicle customers even say they’ve put off buying a car due to high prices or interest rates.1
It’s no surprise that part of being an active car buyer is looking for the best deal on the vehicles they want to purchase. So, by promoting special offers and discounts on your dealership’s inventory to these buyers, you may be able to sway them toward buying from you.
Addressing Common Concerns
After they ask their questions and get all the details about a vehicle, the last thing standing between an active car buyer and completing a purchase may be some final concerns. Make sure you clarify key details such as:
- Vehicle financing options
- Applicable fees
- Available warranties
- Optional features
Over 40% of customers experience stress while shopping for vehicles; alleviating that stress will help you turn active buyers into vehicle owners2.
Running Retargeting Campaigns
A customer who engages with several pages on your website, interacts with your ads, or even visits your dealership is showing signs of being an active buyer. They clearly have some interest in your dealership or your inventory. If they haven’t completed a purchase yet, you may just need to remind them of their interest.
That’s what retargeting campaigns are for. These campaigns feature personalized messaging and showcase the vehicles that previously engaged customers have expressed interest in. The goal is to encourage these active buyers to come back and buy one of those vehicles from your dealership.
Appealing to Passive Buyers
Generally, dealerships should focus more on active buyers since they require less convincing to close the sale. However, that doesn’t mean you should ignore passive buyers. They can still become active buyers in the future, so keep them engaged with strategies like:
- Utilize content marketing strategies and search engine optimization (SEO) to educate potential customers about your dealership’s inventory.
- Offer features like test-drive videos to make the car-buying process less intimidating.
- Build trust by consistently posting on social media.
Attract Customers at Every Stage of the Buying Process
With the right strategies, you can turn passive buyers into active buyers and active buyers into customers for your dealership. Focus on educating and engaging passive buyers while smoothing the path for active buyers to complete a purchase.
Turn to ACV MAX for Vehicle Merchandising
Managing these different strategies and tactics simultaneously can be overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it alone. ACV MAX’s vehicle merchandising tools can do the heavy lifting of creating SEO-focused vehicle descriptions that engage customers at every step of the buying process. Schedule a demo today.
Sources
- Caldwell, J. (11 September 2024). New Research from Edmunds: Affordability Concerns Among American Car Shoppers Aren’t Going Away Anytime Soon. Edmunds. Retrieved April 24, 2025, from https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/edmunds-study-affordability-concerns-remain.html
- 25 Amazing Statistics on How Consumers Shop for Cars. Porch Group Media. Retrieved April 24, 2025, from https://porchgroupmedia.com/blog/25-amazing-statistics-on-how-consumers-shop-for-cars
