SANTA MONICA, Calif. -

In commentary paired with the company’s 2015 Used Vehicle Market Report, Edmunds.com director of industry analysis Jessica Caldwell said the certified pre-owned and late-model used-car markets are currently in “a Golden Age.”

In addition to hitting another record year in 2015 and reaching 55-percent sales growth over the last five years, CPO has also become an increasingly active part of franchised dealers’ used-car operations, according to Edmunds. And its share of franchised used-car sales will likely continue growing.

Last year, 22.4 percent of used-car sales at franchised stores were CPO, the company said.  A year earlier, that number was at 20.9 percent. In 2010, it was 18.8 percent.

But there are some important intricacies in this market to pay attention to.

For one, Edmunds said, CPO shoppers research much longer than new-car shoppers or those consumers looking for non-CPO used.

In fact, behavior analysis on Edmunds.com indicates that certified pre-owned shoppers had about two times the number of page views per research session as each of the other two shopping groups. And the average length of the session was around twice as long.

More specifically, Edmunds said that a car research session for a CPO shopper took an average of 9.06 minutes, with 8.47 page views during the session. New-car shoppers averaged 4.25 minutes with 4.27 page views; used-car shoppers were at 4.00 minutes and 3.70 page views per session.

“CPO customers are shown to rely heavily on research, much more so than a strictly new or used shopper,” the Edmunds report said. “This new breed of shopper will undoubtedly increase in numbers as we begin to experience the increased volume of off-lease vehicles entering the market from all brands and segments.”

These shoppers also tend to be more like their new-car counterparts than those looking for used cars, Edmunds said.

For instance, 71 percent of CPO shoppers were ages 34 and up, with the remaining 29 percent in the millennial generation, according to Edmunds data. The new-car market had the same breakdown, while used-car shoppers were at 58 percent for ages 34 and up and 42 percent millennial.

“Given CPO’s higher price points, warranties, and buying experiences that similar to buying new cars, these findings shouldn’t be much of a surprise. CPO shoppers, however, clearly spend more time researching than all other shoppers, with more than twice as many page views and session durations as new-car shoppers,” the Edmunds report said.

Additionally, female shoppers commanded more of the CPO market (38 percent) than they did new (31 percent) or used (27 percent).

Consumers shopping for certified cars turned to their desktops (77 percent) more often than going mobile (13 percent) or using the tablet (10 percent).

For new-car shoppers, it was 59 percent desktop, 29 percent mobile and 13 percent tablet. For used, the numbers were 48 percent desktop, 42 percent mobile and 9 percent tablet.

‘Closer to 25 percent’

Following another record year, Edmunds is projecting a “similar result” for 2016.

The company predicts CPO share of franchise used sales will continue moving toward 25 percent, thanks largely to an increasing abundance of certified supply.

That would certainly be a big change from earlier this decade. In 2010, for instance, certified share of franchised used sales was at 18.8 percent, then dipped to 18.6 percent the following year and 18.4 percent in 2012.

It has since climbed to 19.3 percent in 2013, 20.9 percent in 2014 and 22.4 percent last year.

This is where the off-lease-driven supply gains come in.

 “From 2012 to 2013, new-vehicle leases saw a spike of 657,949 units (or 25.6 percent), the largest ever year-over-year increase for leasing,” Edmunds said in the report. “These leases are steadily approaching their maturity date, and will help to supply the number of certifiable vehicles, which should push CPO’s share of franchise used sales closer to the 25-percent mark.”