• 40% of dealers say showrooms remain a male dominated environment and 33% that they need to recruit more female staff
• However, 48% have tried to become more female friendly and 42% now employ more women in sales
• Also, 33% say more feedback is needed from female buyers to understand their views, Startline Used Car Tracker

July’s new Startline Used Car Tracker shows 35% believe some women are buying online to avoid showrooms and 33% that they need to recruit and empower more female staff.

However, 48% have tried to make their showrooms more female friendly and 42% now employ women in their sales teams – although only 22% employ as many women as men.

These questions were asked following recent research showing 48% of women feel the car retail experience is biased toward men, with only a quarter feeling comfortable asking for help in a showroom.*

Paul Burgess, CEO at Startline Motor Finance, said: “Our findings suggest that a large minority of people working in motor retail agree that the sector still has some considerable distance to travel in serving the needs of women.

“Clearly, some have recognised this problem and taken welcome actions such as employing more female staff in order to try to improve the situation, but it’s perhaps telling that a third believe women are circumventing the showroom altogether by shopping online.”

The research also shows 33% think more feedback is needed from women customers to understand their views while 12% admit they don’t know how to make their showrooms more female-friendly.

Paul said: “To some extent, these responses underline the problems some parts of the industry face. Perhaps more research by dealers is needed to fully understand this issue.”

The Startline Used Car Tracker is compiled monthly for Startline Motor Finance by APD Global Research, well-known in the motor industry for their business intelligence reporting and customer experience programs. This time, 300 consumers and 60 dealers were questioned.

*Research by Citroen UK