How to access your sales attribution report

The Sales Attribution report shows how Cars.com shopper activity relates to vehicle sales and removed inventory. It uses removed inventory data and, when available, connected DMS sales data to identify vehicles that received Cars.com engagement prior to being sold or removed from the site.

Note: A DMS connection is required to view DMS-influenced sales and the Influenced Sales tab.

1 Find your reporting in the Hub

Once logged into the Hub, click Reporting, then Cars.com.

2 Select Sales Attribution

Click Sales Attribution, then the Sales Attribution report from the dropdown.

3 Using the “main report” tab

The Main Report tab focuses on vehicles removed from Cars.com and the shopper interactions that occurred before removal.

Filters

Refine removed inventory results using the following filters:

• Date (From / To):
  Vehicles removed from Cars.com during the selected date range
  
• Stock Type:
  Select which inventory type to include
  
• Number of Connections:
  Minimum number of Cars.com shopper interactions required for a vehicle to appear
  
• Number of Days Since Last Lead:
  Maximum number of days between the last Cars.com connection and vehicle removal
  
• Vehicles to View:
  Number of vehicles displayed in the results table

Snapshot summary

Use the snapshot summary to review high-level metrics for the selected filters:

1. Removed Inventory with VDP View:
   Vehicles removed during the selected period that had at least one VDP view
   
2. Sales Influenced by Cars.com:
   Vehicles removed during the selected period that had:
   
   • At least one VDP view, and
     
   • At least two total Cars.com connections within 15 days of removal
     
   • These values adjust based on the filters applied.
     
3. Total Connections:
   Total Cars.com connections across all removed vehicles in the selected period
   

Total Saved Vehicles

Total number of vehicle saves for removed vehicles during the selected period

Removed inventory table

The Removed Inventory table lists vehicles removed from Cars.com that were likely sold, along with shopper activity prior to removal.

The table includes:

• Vehicle details: stock number, stock type, year, make, model, and trim
  
• DMS Influenced Sale indicates whether the removed vehicle matches a confirmed sale in your connected DMS (if applicable)
  
• Shopper activity:
  
  • Total VDP views
    
  • Connections (leads)
    
  • Vehicle history clicks (CARFAX / AutoCheck)
    
• Performance metrics:
  
  • SRP-to-VDP click-through rate (CTR)
    
  • Days Live
    
  • Days Since Last Cars.com Lead
    

Last connection type

The Last Connection Type column shows the final shopper interaction before the vehicle was removed:

• Purple (Direct):
  Email, phone, or chat lead
  
• Grey (Indirect):
  Click-throughs or VDP prints

Important DMS notes

• If you do not have a DMS connection:
  
  • The DMS Influenced Sale column will be blank
    
  • The Influenced Sales tab will not display data
    
• DMS data is delayed and only reflects the last full month.
  
  • Current-month removed inventory may not yet display DMS attribution.

4 Using the “Influenced Sales” tab

Click the Influenced Sales tab to view DMS-matched sales data influenced by Cars.com.

Note: This tab only displays data when a DMS connection is enabled and reflects the last full month only.

Filter influenced sales results by:

• Date range
  
• Stock type
  
• Dealer name (for groups or multi-store accounts)
  

Influenced sales metrics

1. Vehicle Gross Sales: total sales amount for vehicles sold that had a Cars.com connection 
2. Influenced Sales: sold vehicles based on VINs that had a Cars.com connection prior to sale
3. Influenced Sales Pct: number of influenced sales divided by the total number of sales in the DMS
4. Sold Vehicle Leads: quantity of Phone, Email, Chat, Finance and Instant offer leads from Cars.com customers on vehicles that sold within the given time period
5. Sold Vehicle Connections: total number of connections or customer interactions from Cars.com customers on vehicles that sold within the given time period. This is inclusive of the Sold Vehicle Leads number.

Influenced sales trend charts

• Influenced Vehicle Sales by Month:
  Bar chart showing the total number of Cars.com-influenced sales per month
  
• Influenced Vehicle Sales % of Total:
  Line chart showing the percentage of total DMS sales influenced by Cars.com per month

These charts display a rolling 13-month trend based on DMS data.

VIN details

The VIN Details section lists individual vehicles identified as sold through DMS data, including:

• Vehicle information
  
• Total Cars.com leads (phone, email, chat)
  
• Total Cars.com connections (leads plus indirect interactions)
  

This section shows shopper engagement that occurred prior to the sale date.