Smart Phones: The Tool of Choice for Used Car Wholesale Managers
AuctionSimplified.com reciently concluded a two-month study on wholesale buyers, determining whether or not they are using smart phones or desktops to browse their sites. They found that used car sourcing managers show a particularly strong connection to their mobile devices.
In fact, 62% of their buyers are using their smartphone’s browser or are on the auction company’s mobile app.
And there is something more telling noted by Auction Simplified’s co-founder Kevin Leigh “The way buyers source used cars has changed drastically, more and more are exclusively buying online. We’ve finally reached critical mass, were trusted dealers can wholesale from start to finish online.”
30 Minutes Online or Three Hours in the Car?
Another particularly interesting finding in the Auction Simplified study is how long wholesale buyers spend browsing the auctions. Overall, Leigh said, they spend upwards of 30 minutes viewing each auction and placing bids, many times from multiple devices.
“Online is so much faster and better for the buyers quality of life. Think about it; which would you rather do, drive 3 hours to an out of state auction or log in and buy. It’s not crazy to assume that most buyers will move to online over time. But just like retail customers, wholesalers expect honesty so a quality condition report is critical to bidders trust.”
Old School Buyers:
Not all buyers will buy completely online. Some buyers insist on inspecting the cars before buying, especially on lower priced vehicles. Although many of those buyers are very tech savvy and will bid right from the car using their smartphone.
Sunday Bidders:
Another interesting finding from the study is the number of buyers who bid on Sundays. 18% of bids come in on Sunday, which plays to the velocity approach to wholesale, the idea that the faster your cars are posted online the more likely they get bids.
“You never know when your audience is online. One buyer we spoke to said he loves to watch the game with his iPad on his lap, ‘sniping’ cars he needs for next week wish list. This way he arrives at work on Monday with much of his weekly allotment fulfilled.” Leigh said.
Similar to all web usage:
While the conclusions are similar to the trends in retail, the mature wholesale buyer has been slow to change but based on these findings, is it obvious that they are catching up.
