The Tradus platform was visited in 2019 by 3 million users from the 45 countries where the platform operates and Romanians accounted for 17% of total visits. The interest in used commercial vehicles increased since the beginning of the year, and in the first 5 months of 2020 alone, 2.9 million visits have already been registered, 14% of which were made by users from Romania.
“The trend for all sectors of activity is to digitize and improve the customer relationship process, accelerated by the current medical context. In 2019, things have evolved positively for the Tradus platform, but since the beginning of the year, we have really seen how important the online environment is for all types of transactions. In 2020 we noticed that the number of visits on the platform reached almost the level recorded in a whole year, and the demand for used commercial vehicles is also growing.
Our goal is to identify and develop solutions to simplify, with the help of technology, the purchase of commercial vehicles internationally. In recent months we have seen how a digital service like Tradus has been useful for continuing the work in these key industries: agriculture, transport, and construction,” Nadja Sörgel, General Manager Tradus
What commercial vehicles are Romanians looking for and what influences their online shopping decision?
The average number of kilometers traveled by the used commercial vehicle is particularly important in the purchase decision, as in the case of a car. Romanians interested in used vehicles want the number of traveled kilometers not to exceed 37,000, while internationally, customers are more flexible and buy vehicles with an average number of 40,000 kilometers traveled.
In addition to the trust for certain exporting countries and brands, users also pay attention to the average year of production of the vehicle. On average, in Romania, there is a preference for used commercial vehicles manufactured in 2008, so over 10 years old on the market. On the other hand, globally, users are oriented towards machines manufactured since 2007.
Preference for light commercial vehicles, trucks and agricultural units
Users in Romania mainly prefer light commercial vehicles, under 3 tons, such as vans, as opposed to the general global preference for trucks.
However, in the searches on the platform a similarity can be observed in the global preferences and those of the Romanians: growing demand for agricultural units.
“The category of commercial vehicles used for agricultural activities is on an upward trend, and in recent months we have witnessed a growing demand in this segment. In March alone, the global demand in this category increased by 44% and we are confident that things will not stop here. Farmers are an important and valuable audience for us, so we will continue to closely monitor this component of the platform to ensure that they have an offer that meets their needs and expectations,” Nadja Sörgel, General Manager Tradus.
The brands that Romanians trust
The Romanians’ acquisition decision is influenced by the exporting country, from where the vehicles come from. Thus, they focus on vehicles from Germany, Italy, and Belgium. Germany is also the top global exporter of used commercial vehicles online, but buyers are also targeting vehicles from the Netherlands and Italy.
According to the data recorded on the platform, Romanians preferred Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and Nissan as brands for light commercial vehicles, the trends being almost the same as internationally, with one difference: greater confidence can be observed in Iveco than in Nissan for the purchase of vans.
For the purchase of trucks, both in Romania and globally, the Mercedes-Benz brand is the favorite. However, Romanians also prefer trucks produced by DAF and Volvo, while globally, users choose MAN or Iveco as trusted brands.
In terms of tractors, searches on the online platform show the difference in taste locally and globally: locally, New Holland and Renault tractors are preferred, followed by John Deere, but internationally the latter brand leads the top, followed by Fendt and New Holland.
To perform this analysis, the specialists from the Tradus team used data from the platform from January 2019 to December 2019, and the analysis focused on the total number of visitors on the platform, the share of Romanian visitors, the preference for commercial vehicle categories, brands present on the platform, the preferred countries of the buyers and the characteristic data that interest them in the purchase process. At the same time, data from January 2020 to May 2020 were used to identify the number of visitors globally and the share of Romanian visitors.