Column: Youth matters most in auto retail technology calculations

Those of us of a certain age may think we're important to consumer-facing businesses.

We matter, of course, and spend money that advertisers want. The reality is, however, that younger adults are often the preferred target because they have far more spending power ahead of them than middle-aged and older consumers do.

In television, for example, advertisers have long favored the 18-to-49 demographic, driven by the idea of reaching young adults when they start spending and then nurturing them as their spending habits and income increase over time. The same thing generally applies to other media and retail companies and, of course, auto dealerships.

Since I joined Automotive News in January, there has been buzz about dealerships boosting their retail technology in ways that will reach older folks who have become tech-savvy, but also younger customers for whom technology is as natural as breathing.

Group 1 Automotive Inc. offers a good example. The dealership giant held its 2023 second-quarter earnings call last week. In the three quarters I have covered the company so far, it has regularly highlighted progress with its AcceleRide digital platform.

More than 80 percent of Group 1's customers in the second quarter used AcceleRide for at least some part of their auto purchase, CEO Daryl Kenningham said during the call. Those numbers reflect steady increases from previous quarters, the company said.

Investments to attract younger and other tech-savvy customers also are bearing fruit at other dealerships. I'm working on a story about one: a dealership group that hired a chief technology officer and IT staff to boost tech tools and efficiency in the car-buying process.

Are younger customers excited about these and other retail technology developments in auto retail? We'll see.

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