The latest research conducted by Dealerweb indicate a strong start to the year for dealers across the UK.

The research indicates order take is up for the first two months of the year, orders are up 9% year to date, this is represented by a 10% increase in new vehicle orders and a 7% increase in used orders.

Including inbound telephone enquiries, online leads and walk-ins, the overall volume of enquiries grew 11%, year-on-year, across January and February 2017, with leads from online sources accounting for most of this growth. While the quantity of customer walk-ins remains higher overall than online enquiries, the rate of increase was far more modest, with just 2% more customers visiting dealerships than last year.

Unsurprisingly, the data continues the trend seen during 2016, a year which saw dealers receiving more online enquiries than ever before. The third quarter of 2016 alone saw a 62% year-on-year rise in web leads, one of the biggest quarterly jumps yet. Volumes of walk-in enquiries during this period only grew 0.6%, by contrast.

The increase in both enquiries and orders could be a result of the increase in VED that kick in at the start of April this year, with many dealer management system marketing campaigns focusing on the potential saving that could be realised by registering a vehicle before the start of Q1.

As a growing number of prospective customers start their sales journey online it will become increasingly important for dealers to implement effective sales lead management systems and processes to manage both the number of electronic leads and the customers first impression by ensuring they are contacted both quickly and in a professional and personalised way.