Used car marketplace heycar has experienced a spike in web traffic as more people head online to plan their next car purchase.

The company's website traffic has grown 87% since the first week of April.

During the Easter break, heycar reported a spike of 35% week-on-week.

Karen Hilton, chief commercial officer at heycar, said: “It’s so interesting to look at the numbers of people who are coming on to the heycar site at this time. The visitors, the cars they’re browsing and the numbers who are registering interest suggests a pent-up desire to buy when the time’s right.

“We might be living through extraordinary times, but the signs are there that the industry will be able to pivot back to better times later in the year. Right now, that means nurturing every possible lead and having the best possible online offering for people to find you when they are stuck at home on their laptops and phones.”

Reactive measures on the heycar site to keep a pipeline of customers for the future have included a ‘register interest’ button on all makes and models, allowing heycar and the relevant dealership to keep in touch until the time is right to buy. 

A recent survey revealed almost one in five car buyers are poised to make a purchase as soon as Covid-19 lockdown is lifted. 

In terms of what the public are browsing while on lockdown, the luxury end of the market dominates.

The top five brands viewed in the past week (including the Easter Weekend) on heycar were Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen and Ford.

Hilton added: “Dealers who have warm leads can use this time to educate their customers on purchase options, finance and even the delivery options currently on offer.

“Get to know the customer and their circumstances, that way you’ll know when they are in the position to buy.”