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OPE Magazine
Half of tractor shoppers get no response after submitting online inquiries, study says
January 2026
Nearly half of all online inquiries submitted to compact tractor dealerships went unanswered in 2026, according to a new industry study that found little improvement in dealer web response performance over the past five years.
Dealerships representing Kubota ranked highest in the 2026 Pied Piper PSI Internet Lead Effectiveness Compact Tractor Industry Study, which measured how quickly and thoroughly dealers responded to online sales inquiries. Kubota dealers averaged an Internet Lead Effectiveness, or ILE, score of 37 out of 100. The overall industry average was 29.
How the study was conducted
The study was conducted by Pied Piper Management Company, which submitted test inquiries to 772 compact tractor dealership websites across all major brands. Each inquiry asked a specific question about inventory and was sent during normal business hours. Dealer responses were evaluated over a 24-hour period using email, phone, chat and text messaging.
Nearly half of inquiries receive no personal response
The study found that 47% of all tractor-related online inquiries received no personal response, a seven-point increase from last year. In 27% of cases, customers received no response at all, including automated replies.
"The tractor industry has not improved in five years, and half of website customers receive no personal response," said Cameron O'Hagan, vice president of metrics and analytics at Pied Piper. "However, dealers receiving monthly web-response measurement and reporting dramatically outperform the industry, averaging an ILE score of 48, well above all compact tractor brands and also higher than the powersports industry average."
