Used car customer use of dealer websites has skewed away from laptop and desktop PCs to smartphones and tablet in the past six months, according to motor dealer technology provider iVendi.

Based on usage figures of iVendi's Car Finance Checker web tool, around 55% of buyers now use a mobile device compared to 33% in July.

James Tew, director at iVendi, said: “The rate of change is astonishing. There has been a definite sea change in a matter of months, perhaps powered by very high tablet sales over the Christmas period.

“Of course, what this means is that dealers need to ensure that their websites work extremely well on smartphones and tablets. If they don’t, you will unquestionably lose out on business to those that do.”

Mobile device use of Car Finance Checker was dominated by iPhone and iPad users, which were well ahead of Android and other devices.

He said: “While sales indicate that Android devices are well ahead of Apple, the statistics indicate that iOS users represent the overwhelming majority of online used car buyers.

“This is a large group of customers who are happy to choose, finance and complete a used car deal on their smartphone. Dealers have to meet their requirements by creating a high quality online journey.”

Launched at the start of 2013, Car Finance Checker is designed by iVendi to plug into almost any dealer website and, by taking a few details from potential customers, enables them to check their eligibility for credit with the dealer’s panel of lenders.

The product duplicates criteria from a wide range of lenders from prime through to sub-prime, making it suitable for all kinds of new and used car retailers from the most exclusive franchise dealers through to mainstream manufacturers, car supermarkets and independent used car specialists.

In use, it is tailored to the existing panel of lenders used by each dealer and integrated completely into their website.