How to merchandise your car lot's website grid well
A fixed grid shows every car the same size, in the order you added them. A merchandising grid lets you decide what a buyer sees first — a promo, your best deal, or the newest arrival.
Merchandising a car lot's website is the practice of arranging what a buyer sees first on your storefront, instead of listing every vehicle the same size in whatever order it was entered. GridDealer's grid mixes 3 tile types — promo, text and vehicle — and lets you set each tile's column span, row span and position by hand.
Most car-dealer websites use a fixed card grid: every vehicle gets an identical box, sorted by date added or price, and that's the whole layout decision made for you. It's not wrong, exactly. It's just not merchandising — it's a spreadsheet with photos.
What each tile type actually does
Three building blocks, mixed however your lot needs them.
Feature your best deal
Give one vehicle tile a bigger span — two columns, two rows — so it's the first thing a buyer notices, not the twelfth thing they scroll past.
Run a promo tile
A tile that isn't a vehicle at all: a financing message, a seasonal sale, a "we buy cars too" call-out. Described generically here because your actual promo copy is yours to write.
Add a text tile
Plain text tied to nothing in particular — hours, a return policy, a phone number. Small, but it fills a gap without forcing in another car.
Control the order
Decide which tile shows first. Nothing is locked to the order you added it, and rearranging doesn't touch the listing itself.
A fixed grid vs. a merchandising grid
Here's the practical difference between the two.
Scroll the table sideways on a phone
| What matters | Fixed card grid | GridDealer's merchandising grid |
|---|---|---|
| Who decides tile order | Date added, or price | You, tile by tile |
| Tile types available | Vehicle cards only | Promo, text and vehicle tiles |
| Feature one vehicle larger | Not possible | Yes, by column and row span |
| Non-vehicle messaging on the grid | No | Yes, via promo or text tiles |
| Starting cost | $49–$60/mo flat | $20/mo, up to 15 listings |
The $49 and $60 flat-fee figures are the two competitors GridDealer names on its own homepage comparison table — DealerWebsites.com and SPARQsites — and neither offers a customizable merchandising grid at any price. The $20/mo figure is GridDealer's Starter plan.
The honest limit, and who should skip this
A grid you can rearrange is still a grid you have to rearrange.
It doesn't merchandise itself
Nobody's algorithm is deciding which car to feature. You pick it, resize it, and move it — the flexibility is real, but so is the five minutes it takes to use it.
Included, not an add-on
Grid control comes with every plan, starting at $20/mo for Starter. There's no setup fee and no extra charge for using tile spans or promo tiles — cancel any time.
Who this isn't for
A dealer who wants zero layout decisions — a plain, always-chronological list and nothing else to think about — will find a fixed grid simpler. That's a fair trade if merchandising truly isn't a priority for your lot. See what actually makes a car dealer website work for the broader case either way.
Setting up your grid
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Open the grid editor
It sits inside your storefront dashboard, next to your vehicle list.
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Drop in your vehicle tiles
Every active listing you've added — see how to list cars for sale online as a dealer if you haven't added your first one, or how VIN decode fills in the specs for a car you're entering right now — starts as a plain tile.
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Add a promo or text tile
Drop one in wherever you want a break from vehicle tiles, and write whatever message fits your lot right now.
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Resize and reorder
Stretch the vehicle you want featured to a bigger span, then drag tiles until your best deal leads.
Common questions
Can I feature more than one vehicle at a time?
Yes. Any number of vehicle tiles can carry a larger span at once — there's no cap on how many you feature, though a grid where everything is "featured" stops meaning anything.
What's the difference between a promo tile and a text tile?
Both are non-vehicle tiles, and the split is really just intent: a promo tile is usually built for a sale or financing message with more visual weight, while a text tile is a shorter, plainer note like hours or a policy.
Do vehicle tiles update automatically when I change a listing's price?
Yes. A vehicle tile pulls from the listing itself, so editing the price, mileage or photos updates the tile without you touching the grid layout.
Is there a limit to how many tiles I can add?
Vehicle tiles are limited by your plan's active-listing cap — 15 on Starter, 50 on Growing Lot, 150 on Established Lot, uncapped on Unlimited. Promo and text tiles aren't vehicles, so they don't count against that cap.
Do flat-fee competitors offer this same kind of grid control?
Not the two GridDealer compares itself to on its own homepage: DealerWebsites.com's $49/mo plan and SPARQsites' $60/mo plan are both fixed-template builders, without a customizable merchandising grid.
Does the grid still make sense on a phone?
Yes — tiles reflow to fewer columns on a small screen, and your featured vehicle stays visually larger even when the grid narrows to one or two columns wide.
Stop treating every car the same size
Feature your best deal, drop in a promo, and let the rest fall into place. It's included on every plan, starting at $20/mo.
Cancel any time · No setup fee
Plan prices and listing caps reflect GridDealer's published Starter, Growing Lot, Established Lot and Unlimited plans at the time this page was written and are subject to change. Competitor prices are cited from each company's own public pricing pages as found via web search in September 2026.