Case Study: Auto Trader achieves data-driven self-service insights with Looker

Auto Trader embraces digital transformation and the power of data

Auto Trader, the UK’s largest digital automotive marketplace, was struggling to manage rapidly growing data from online traffic and multiple channels while meeting rising security and privacy requirements. As the business shifted from print to digital, it needed a way to give employees, retailers, and consumers easier access to trusted insights without relying on slow, manual SQL-based reporting. Looker helped Auto Trader centralize data and support self-service analytics across the company.

Looker implemented a cloud-based analytics layer on top of Auto Trader’s modern data stack, using LookML as a single source of truth and enabling fast dashboard creation and collaborative development. The rollout produced measurable results: weekly active users grew from zero to over one-third of employees, about 100 staff now build their own dashboards and reports, and sales teams were able to use performance dashboards within weeks to improve conversations with retail customers.

Auto Trader

Edward Kent

Principal Developer, Data Engineering