RALEIGH, N.C. -

Executives and engineers who develop complex online marketing initiatives and maintain multifaceted information infrastructure received a glimpse of what it’s like to be a dealer.

AutoTrader.com chief executive officer Chip Perry gained the opportunity to be one of the presenting speakers Thursday at the Internet Summit in Raleigh, N.C., a trade show gathering some of the nation’s top experts in all things that make commerce hum on the Web.

Perry shared some company history, auto industry background and more. But afterward Perry emphasized that what he discussed wasn’t any different than what he or another AutoTrader.com representative might share with a store manager who might have 10 or 1,000 vehicles in inventory.

“I don’t get the chance to give many of these talks,” Perry said at a venue filled with product and software demonstrations harnessing wireless technology and strategies to capitalize on social media opportunities.

“But if dealers were sitting here, it’s consistent with everything we’ve been hearing over the years. Dealers are trying to present the greatest inventory to consumers. They try to help us learn how to use the Internet,” Perry continued.

“There’s nothing I would say here that I wouldn’t say in front of a car dealer,” he added.

Dealers were the one of the top focuses of Perry’s presentation with the other being who dealers are trying to reach — potential buyers.

Two images left the assembly with a vivid take of what dealers readily understand.

Perry first showed two newspaper automotive classified advertisement pages adjacent to each other. One was dated from 1932; the other from 2010. With the exception of the vehicle pictured in the middle and the unit prices, Perry pointed out how they were virtually identical in their way of reaching consumers.

The CEO offered AutoTrader.com traffic statistics that showed more than 60 percent of buyers conduct their shopping online. Perry emphasized that these consumers are using the Web to search for inventory, gauge trade-in value and research financing.

“During and after the downturn when dealers realized that with a smaller volume in the industry and they needed to be more efficient on the advertising side, they focused on what was really working, what does produce a good ROI,” Perry explained.

“Internet advertising generally does produce a better ROI than traditional advertising,” he stressed. “With that added focus and more dealers understanding the ingredients for success — good merchandising and competitive pricing — they’re presenting the positive story of their dealership in a powerful way. Those are the ingredients that more dealers are figuring out and are embracing within their store.”

While some of the Internet Summit agenda was geared toward how business can be done completely online, Perry said that’s just not how it works in the auto industry no matter how much Web advertising might be successful.

Later, Perry brought up a magazine cover with a blaring headline that read, “Death of the Salesman.” The date of the publication was Oct. 4, 1999, not long before Perry said some pundits believed more than 35 percent of all vehicle transactions by 2006 would be conducted completely online.

The AutoTrader.com chief tried to explain that no matter how much technology develops, face-to-face interaction with dealers still is going to dominate consumer behavior.

“We don’t see the fundamentals of an automotive transaction, a car deal, changing any time soon,” Perry insisted.

“The consumer has an emotional element around a buying a car. They want to see it, touch it, feel it. There are the financial aspects of the deal, the trade, the loan, the price. That’s going to be done at the dealership for a long time,” he went on to say.

With the dealer in mind, Perry touched on some of the goals AutoTrader.com has, such as boosting its mobile platform and creating a dealer-rating system propelled by consumer feedback.

“We’re really excited to see the accelerating level of engagement that both independent and franchise dealers are putting into the Internet side of the dealership,” Perry concluded.