Edmunds.com's Lot Buddy^SM Helps Car Shoppers Lock in the Best Price While on the Dealer's Lot

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — October 6, 2014 — Edmunds.com, the premier destination for car shopping, today launched Lot Buddy^SM, a new location-aware feature that enables car shoppers to instantly unlock Price Promise^® no-haggle offers when they step onto a dealer's lot. The product, part of the company's acclaimed mobile app, is the first car-shopping tool to offer locked-in pricing without requiring a buyer's personal information.

"Mobile is increasingly the tool of choice for car shoppers. At present, mobile makes up 36 percent of all Edmunds.com traffic," Edmunds.com President Seth Berkowitz says. "We are paying close attention to shoppers, and we've found that the task done most often on the dealer lot is looking up pricing and using calculators in order to answer the question, 'Is this a good deal?' We are offering the easiest path to an answer."

Lot Buddy is the latest product to disrupt the shopping process for the growing mobile segment of Edmunds.com visitors. The site saw a 39 percent bump in mobile usage from 2013 to 2014. Fifteen percent of the mobile shoppers access Edmunds.com's shopping tips, reviews and calculators while on the dealer's lot. In a study conducted by Edmunds.com, 100 percent of shoppers with access to a smartphone say they use a mobile device at some point in the purchase process, yet 63 percent of car shoppers say that mobile tools to assist at the dealership are lacking.

The Edmunds.com app makes car shopping easier by showing users actual new and used cars for sale nearby. Shoppers can also read expert and consumer reviews, and compare upfront prices to lock in the best offer through Edmunds.com's Price Promise^®. Other app features include video and photo galleries and finance and lease calculators. Mobile visitors can download the app at http://apps.edmunds.com/lotbuddy.

About Edmunds.com
Car-shopping website Edmunds serves nearly 18 million visitors each month. With Edmunds.com Price Promise^®, shoppers can get an instant, upfront price for cars and trucks currently for sale at 10,000 dealer franchises across the U.S. Car shoppers can browse not only inventory listings at Edmunds.com and on its acclaimed apps, but also comprehensive car reviews, shopping tips, photos, videos and feature stories. Named by Maritz Research as one of the most trusted online consumer review sites — and the only automotive site listed in the top ten — Edmunds.com welcomes all car-shopping questions at our Help Center and on Twitter and Facebook. Based in Santa Monica with a satellite office in downtown Detroit, Edmunds.com can also be found on Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Google+ and Flipboard.