8:58 am, October 30, 2017
WE USED to go to the travel agent when booking a holiday or a flight. We used to get in the car and visit a store when we wanted to rent a movie. We used to have to visit a bank in person to manage our finances. We tolerated it, as there was no easier alternative… but there is now.
The internet has forced established businesses to change the way they interact with their customers, with most now offering an online alternative for purchasing goods and services.
So, why shouldn’t purchasing stock for your forecourt be done online, just like renting movies, booking flights or managing your finances?
Many people will argue that there is no substitute to seeing a used car in the flesh before making a financial commitment. However, there are a growing number of dealers who appreciate the convenience and significant time and cost savings that purchasing stock online offers. Combine convenience with a simple and user-friendly digital experience, and you have a winning formula for the future.
The simplicity of online remarketing is obvious compared with the process experienced when using physical auction. The typical dealer relying on physical auctions will experience many steps in the process, whereas the dealer using online remarketing will experience just three.
Relying on physical auctions means only one auction can be attended at any one time. It will require time spent online searching for cars, which will inevitably be interrupted by sales calls, scheduling customer and internal meetings to free up time to attend the auction, travelling to the auction and running the risk of traffic delays, which could result in missing target cars, inspecting target cars, bidding, buying and driving back usually late in the day. It’s time consuming.
Online remarketing is simple – you find a car online, you bid, you buy. It means less time sourcing, more time selling.
The good news is that the technology now exists which provides an outstanding digital experience and saves you time and money. ADESA UPSTREAM provides dealers with a reliable source of quality stock with a good mix of age, mileage and specification supported by accurate descriptions and, most importantly, quality images. It also saves time. It sometimes takes weeks before a car appears in a physical auction once its contract is up, but the same car can be featured online within hours of its end of contract, giving dealers a first opportunity to access the best stock.
With ADESA UPSTREAM no travel is required, as online auctions can be experienced from the comfort of your showroom/home/sofa. In addition, there are no joining fees, no contract, no subscription cost and buyer fees are more competitive.
The auctions take place with stock from a variety of quality vendors such as Arval, Motability and Northgate, multiple times in the day, overnight and throughout the weekend, supported by full and transparent vehicle information and images, with a no-see, money-back guarantee. This means that if the vehicle isn’t as described, you’ll get your money back.
Dealers who want to have guaranteed early upstream access to stock should ensure that ADESA UPSTREAM becomes an integral part of their daily routine, being the first thing they check when they get into work.
Online auctions may not suit everyone and there will continue to be demand for physical auctions, but over time the services provided and customers served will evolve as digital transactions become the cornerstone of a thriving used car operation.
To learn more about UPSTREAM, visit adesa.co.uk/upstream.
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