A dealer locator is the perfect solution for businesses that want to make it easy and clear for their customers how to reach their store or dealership.
Almost all businesses have one thing in common, they usually have a physical location such as a store or a dealership where customers can come in person to do business. These physical locations are great for carrying out business activities such as customer interactions, product marketing, and most importantly, selling products and services.
It is, therefore, crucial for businesses to provide potential customers with accurate and up-to-date information on how to get to their physical locations because research shows that a majority of shoppers prefer to buy in-store.
The problem here arises when a business fails to clearly communicate to its customers exactly where their store or dealership is located. As a result, this can lead to potential paying customers abandoning their decision to go to a business’s store or dealership to buy products or do business.
This can lead to a loss of sales.
Therefore, in this article, we explain how you can avoid these sales losses by using a dealer locator. We will explain everything you need to know about store locator plugins and their benefits, and at the end, we will reveal a dealer or store locator plugin that might be perfect for you.
What is a Dealer Locator?

Almost all businesses have two components:
1- A Physical location – This is typically a store, outlet, kiosk, or pickup center from where a business directly sells its products to customers.
2- An Online Presence – This usually takes the form of a website, blog, social media page, etc. The purpose of the online component is to raise awareness for the business by reaching many people across the internet.
A dealer locator is a tool that connects the online and physical components of your business. Furthermore, it is a section on your website that has the following elements:
- A large online map (with all your store locations marked)
- Store list
- Search bar
All these elements combine to form a dealer locator widget. This widget, which can be added to your website, helps your website visitors find a dealer near them.
Benefits of a Dealer Locator Widget

Now that you know what a dealer locator widget is, let’s see how it can benefit your business.
The dealer locator or store finder is used to show your website visitors all your store locations so that if your visitors want to know where your stores are, they can easily find your nearest store location using the store finder widget on your website
Businesses have stores to sell products locally in a neighborhood or city. However, if a business wants to attract more customers outside its locality, it will need to first reach out to more people. And the best way to reach more people, easily and quickly, is via the Internet.
Having an online presence is a sure way to raise awareness for your business. This is because your physical stores will only raise awareness for your business within a limited range, usually as far as where you can physically advertise your business. However, by having an online presence such as a website, you will be able to get the attention of more people, not just in your area, city, or state, but even outside your country.
Okay, so we have established that having an online presence is crucial for attracting more customers. Now you might be asking, “How does a dealer locator fit in this picture?”
Let us tell you how.
Scenario 1 – A Website Without a Dealer Locator Widget
So let’s suppose a person new to your city or neighborhood comes across your website while he is surfing the internet, and he finds something you are selling. Now, this person can either order online (if you provide this option) or he can come to one of your physical stores to see, feel, and try the product for himself before making the purchase.
However, this person is new to your city, and he is not very familiar with every location, so naturally he will have to search for your dealerships near him.
This person can search for your store in several ways. For example, he can go to Google Maps to find your stores. However, this will be a problem for you if you do not have an up-to-date location on Google Maps. Furthermore, searching for your location on Google Maps can be a loss for you, because this person has left your website to search for your store location, making him vulnerable to distractions on Google Maps that may lead to him not returning to your website.
Scenario 2 – A Website With a Dealer Locator Widget
However, if you have a store finder widget on your website, then this person will not need to leave your website to find the location of your store(s). He can simply go to your store finder page and see the location of all your stores, as well as other useful information about your stores such as directions, address, store timings, etc.
All the above information is provided to this person directly on your website, and this prevents him from leaving your website. Moreover, once this person has everything he needs (locations, address, opening hours, zip code, contact information, etc.) about your store location, he can easily reach your store to purchase his desired product.
By adding a dealer locator widget to your website, you can potentially make many more sales that otherwise might not come to fruition. This is because, with a locator widget, you provide your potential customers with everything they need to reach your store easily and quickly.
If your potential customer finds it difficult to grasp where your store is, then he/she might not even consider making the trip, which can lead to a loss of sales. However, by removing all barriers to visiting, you can make sure that your potential customers are completely unhindered from coming to your store.
Summary
So, to recap, a dealer locator widget provides you with the following benefits:
- Provides your customers with everything they need to easily and quickly get to your store if they want to make an in-store purchase.
- Prevents your customer from leaving your website to search for your location from different applications
- Increases sales and brand awareness for your business by making it easy for people to find your physical store.
As you can see, a dealer locator widget is a no-brainer for any business with an online component that wants to maximize their sales by helping their potential customers reach their place of business.
Now the question remains: “How can I add a dealer locator widget to my website?”
In the upcoming section, we will tell you exactly how you can add a store finder widget to your website so that you can reap all the benefits we mentioned in this section of the article.
How to Add a Dealer Locator to Your Website?

Developing a website and adding new features to it is pretty complex, especially if you do not know anything about codes and programming languages.
However, the good news is that you do NOT need any technical skills to add a dealer locator to your website. This is because there are software or plugins that can instantly add a store locator widget to your website without any coding.
With most dealer locator plugins, all you need to do is follow the below general steps to add a dealer locator to your website:
- Buy the dealer locator plugin and install it
- Configure the widget the plugin offers, add our store location, and other data needed.
- Get an HTML code after you have configured the store finder widget, this code contains everything you configured for your dealer locator widget
- Paste this code into your website’s page builder
- And, finally, your new store locator will be active on your website.
There are many dealer locator plugins available in the market, some are good, some are bad and some are just not worth it. Therefore, to help you make the correct decision, in the next section, we will take a look at one of the most popular store locator plugins that might be worth the investment.
Our Recommended Dealer Locator Plugin: Agile Store Locator

Agile Store Locator is an excellent dealer or store locator plugin for brands that want to direct customers from their website to their physical location (stores, kiosks, pickup points, etc.). This is because, through its dealer locator widget, you will ensure customers who are in a “buying mood” have all the information they need to reach your store without getting lost and frustrated.
This will raise the chances of more visitors coming to your store from your website. As a result, you will have more opportunities to build relationships with customers, which may eventually lead to more sales.
Agile Store Locator provides its users with all the tools they need to create and add a successful dealer locator widget that will make it easier for people to reach your stores. Moreover, Agile Store Locator is very easy to use (even for non-tech people) and it can be used without any knowledge of coding.
You can choose between 4 templates, which can be further customized, for creating your store locator. Once you have selected a store locator template, you will then have a myriad of options available to you on how to operate and customize your store locator.
With Agile Store Locator, you will have access to a comprehensive backend management system that will allow you to manage stores, themes, logos, markers, and much more. In addition, you will be able to import/export stores, customize your store locator according to your requirements, and view store analytics.
All the above features coupled with quality support, regular updates, and detailed documentation make Agile Store Locator a good choice for both beginners and experienced business owners.
Retailing at $39 for the regular license, Agile Store Locator offers the best value for money (in our opinion) for a premium quality dealer locator plugin.
Key Features of Agile Store Locator
- Easy to use and requires no knowledge of coding
- Simple to install and operate
- Compatible with All Devices and web platforms
- Integration with Top map provider Google Maps
- Store import/export using CSV
- Highly responsive UI
- Complete backend management system
- Extensive customization options (Store list, infobox, etc.)
- 4 eye-catching templates to choose from
Conclusion

A dealer locator widget is the perfect tool for businesses to bring more customers from their website to their physical locations. Doing so will increase your chances to engage and interact with your customers, and it will also help your potential customers reach your physical locations to buy products in-store.
A dealer locator widget can easily be added to your website, without any coding, by using a dealer locator plugin. Furthermore, one of the best dealer locator plugins you can get is Agile Store Locator.