What is on-lot vehicle merchandising?

On-lot vehicle merchandising is the printed graphics a dealership puts on the cars it sells and around the lot they sit on: windshield banners, mini-marks, body sides, hang tags and hood bows, and the banners and signs around them. Lot Sherpa is our name for that line.

Each piece has one job. It says what the car is, what’s worth knowing about it, or where to find the rest.

The pieces, and where they go

Piece	Where it goes	What it usually carries
Windshield banners: flyouts, ovals, toppers	Along the top of the windshield, passenger side	The year, the model and three facts, or the month’s event
Complements: model-year triangles and ovals	The passenger corners of the windshield: triangles up top, ovals in the lower corner	The model year, a loaner tag
Mini-marks	Down the passenger A-pillar; certified marks under the windshield banner	Fresh Trade, inspection, certified
The ShortCut	The rear lower corner of the front door glass	A QR code that opens a page on your website, with a short link beside it
Body sides	Along the doors, printed vinyl on the paint	The month’s event, or a message for the road
Hang tags and Buyers Guides	The rearview mirror; a rear side window	A short message; the FTC Used Car Rule guide
Hood bows and ribbons	The hood	The holidays, Pinktober, Veterans Day

Where it fits in how people buy

Most car buying still finishes in person. In Cox Automotive’s 2025 study, 53% of buyers did the whole purchase in person and only 7% bought entirely online.

The same buyers spent about 7 hours researching online, and 59% used dealer websites while they shopped. Merchandising sits between the two: the glass carries what’s worth knowing about the car, and a ShortCut opens the same car’s page online.

The Field Note The lot is where the research lands has the rest of the study.

How we write and size a piece

• A headline of three or four words. Traffic-sign research has long found that a glance takes in three or four short words.
• Letters sized from the reading distance: about an inch of letter height for every 30 feet, in good conditions. That’s where our sizing starts.
• Open space around the words. Sign-industry guidance keeps lettering to about 40% of the face.
• A short link beside every QR code. Older Census respondents were likelier to type the address than to scan.

Two Field Notes go further: Letters sized for the drive aisle and Three or four words.

What we don’t claim

No study has measured what windshield graphics do for sales, and we don’t quote one. The letter-height and headline figures above come from roadside and storefront sign research. We use them to set a starting size and to keep the headline short.

Questions about on-lot merchandising