sgCarMart.com Jobs - IT Article, IT Career Advice & Tips

sgCarMart.com is today the largest car website in Singapore. It was set up in June 2004 to serve car buyers' needs for a reliable and authoritative source of information. The website attracts more than 900,000 visitors every month and has been awarded the Most Popular Automotive Site by Hitwise for three consecutive years in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

We chat to Vincent Tan, who is one of the founders of sgCarMart.com and also its Business Development Manager.

Vincent, how was sgCarMart.com established?

The idea for a car website was first conceived while I was still studying for my Mechanical Engineering degree at University.

My Dad works as a car dealer and he once mentioned to me that there wasn’t a good and economical platform for car dealers to source for cars. That gave me the idea for sgCarMart.com, and so I and a few other friends got together to set up the website, while we were still at Uni.

The driving aims for the website was to help car buyers make their decision by providing essential information, and to help car sellers improve their sales through cost-effective means.

Because it is an Internet business, start up costs are lower than a normal bricks and mortar one and there is less risk involved. So in the spirit of entrepreneurship, we went for it.

Did you all face many challenges in the beginning?

Yes, there were a few obstacles that we had to overcome at first -

	Lack of know-how
we were all new to the business and none of us had any in-depth knowledge of cars, so we did a lot of research, talking to car dealers and car owners so that we could be more well-informed when making decisions.
	Legacy problem
before sgCarMart.com, there were quite a few similar car websites that failed due to one reason or another. Therefore there were a lot of skeptics who believed that we wouldn’t be able to succeed either.
	Changing mindsets
car dealers were used to the traditional way of advertising (newspapers) and many were reluctant to adopt this new approach of advertising online, so we had to educate them on the convenience and cost advantages of using our website as opposed to print classifieds.
	Sales targets
it was disappointing for the first few months as we could not hit our projected sales target for the website, therefore we had to realign our business strategies, and persevere.

What are the great features of sgCarMart.com?

The website is designed to be a one-stop authoritative motoring directory that is user-friendly and our content is divided into 4 main sections –

	New Cars Information
The New Cars section provides loads of useful information and the most up-to-date prices. Details from both authorized car distributors and parallel importers are available too. Viewers not only get comprehensive descriptions, but can also use the platforms to compare and choose their ideal car, scout for the best new car promotions and browse through the new car photos and consumer car reviews. Using the site's search functions, consumers can sieve through thousands of new car models and pinpoint their top choices in a flash.
	Used Cars Information
sgCarMart.com houses the largest online database of used cars in Singapore, complete with pictures and pricing. Our wide selection includes sedans, MPVs, SUVs, luxury cars, sports cars, OPC cars, COE cars, auction cars and even commercial vehicles. There are daily updates of the list of major dealers and the vehicles they have.
	Car and Motoring articles
In the Articles section, everyone can read car reviews about whether a newly launched car model is as good as it's claimed to be, and also about events happening around the automotive world.
	Motoring Directory
Designed to be the one-stop authoritative motoring directory, this is where our users will find plenty of useful motor-related products and services from 14 broad categories. From car rentals, performance and tuning workshops, places to get one’s car audio done and even solar films, each listing consists of their contact details and their products/services.

What are the future directions for sgCarMart.com? In the short to medium term, we intend to build up an online community among our users and to also shift the content more from car buying to car ownership, to include after market accessories like solar films and car maintenance. We aim to continue being the market leader for online car websites and to also grow our share of the online pie.

Did you like this story? Write to us at marketinginfo@jobsdb.com.sg

To know more about sgCarMart.com

www.sgcarmart.com

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