Daype Classifieds

Boasting over 7 million unique visitors a month in Canada, Kijiji.ca is the most visited online classified site in the country, according to recent data from comScore.

That traffic has translated to a burgeoning auto category on the site, which has also become the most visiting used car classified site in Canada as well.

As of February 2009, over 2.6 million unique visitors came to the site looking for a deal on a used car, which made Kijiji the No. 1 Canadian site for those looking to sell or buy their vehicles. That’s over 25 percent the visits its nearest competitor gets.

From a consumer point of view, the general reason this is happening, is Canadians, like many of their global counterparts, are focusing their attention on acquiring used cars, rather than buying new, as people continue to tighten their financial belts.

Almost 50 percent of recent auto purchases by Canadians have been directly between the owner of the car and the buyer, making classified sites like Kijiji especially attractive to consumers.

Close to 70 percent of all recent Canadian auto purchases have been used vehicles, again, making classified sites highly desirable online venues to find what buyers are looking for.

Two of the leading reasons Kijiji.ca is outperforming their competitors is the large number of cities it serves, 63 at this time, sprinkled across the country, as well as over 500,000 vehicles listed for sale in the Cars & Vehicles category.

Also included in the category, beyond the usual trucks, vans, cars and SUVs, are RVs, boats, ATVs and motorcycles, adding to the interest in being a place you can find what you want for Canadians.

So along with local relevance from being available in so many Canadian cities, no fees for sellers to list their vehicles, and the included interface which is very easy for consumers to use, it all adds up to being what visitors want in a classified ad site, and an experience with a small learning curve before being able to use it.

All of that ensures there will continue to be a growing number of vehicles to browse for by prospective buyers, as sellers are given every incentive to list their autos and other vehicles on Kijiji.

This looks like it’s going to continue, as for January and February of 2009, the auto section of Kijiji has grown by over 10 percent, and time spent on the site has surged to over 90 million minutes for February, combining all users.

Other significant numbers for the first two months of 2009 are overall page views increasing by about 16 million in the auto sector, while the combination of former users and new users increased by 13.2 millon.

By Gary Bourgeault
March 17, 2009
© Daype Inc.