MONTREAL -

Derived from analysis of first-quarter online shopper activity at automaker websites, iPerceptions learned visitors who said they plan to purchase a new vehicle during the next six months rose from 49.5 percent in the fourth quarter of last year to 51.7 percent in first quarter of this year.

iPerceptions’ automotive industry report released this week showed the projected sales increase stems from consumers replacing aging vehicles kept during the worst of the 2008-2009 recession, and lenders, who held back on financing, emerging more prepared to relax lending criteria.

Based off of this data, analysts insist automakers will need to ensure their websites offer streamlined navigation and a reduction in the number of clicks required to access information, enabling visitors to easily find what they want.

The report indicated visitors who are close to purchase are more demanding when it comes to finding information online and that is important to them when making a vehicle purchase.

“Making it easier to access detailed information online such as inventory visibility is paramount in order to secure additional visits to dealers, more requests for quotes and ultimately, a greater number of vehicle sales, explained Claude Guay, president and chief executive officer of iPerceptions.

This report also determined visitors’ overall task completion increased from 66.3 percent in the closing quarter of last year to 69.8 percent in the opening quarter of this year. Analysts said this increase was largely driven by more successful attempts at researching price and reviewing vehicle features — what they think are the two most important purposes of a visit.

In fact, iPerceptions discovered the proportion of OEM site visitors researching vehicle features continued to increase during the first quarter, reaching 28 percent. However, shoppers researching price continued to represent the most important visitor segment (32.6 percent in the first quarter).

Analysts also noted the other main reasons for visiting an automaker website were to compare models (12.1 percent), to compare brands (5.8 percent) and to a lesser degree, to access owner services (2.5 percent).

Also of note, iPerceptions mentioned in its report that interest in luxury vehicles increased from 19.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 to 23.7 percent in first quarter of 2011

In summation, iPerceptions reiterated that the ability to find desired information was found to have the greatest influence on overall site satisfaction for in-market visitors.

“The data shows that automotive sites need to streamline content discovery as much as possible in order to enhance visitors’ online experience and ensure that in-market visitors who are close to purchase can find the information that is most important to them when making a vehicle purchase in the spring and summer shopping seasons,” Guay emphasized.

iPerceptions highlighted that its report compiled real-time feedback from more than 56,000 people visiting 18 North American brand websites and 17,000 people visiting 85 international retail websites to identify the most important issues and trends facing the industry.