Digital marketing company Outsell launched a new buyer-detection product this week that works to keep dealers from missing out on new leads and potential repeat customers while also helping to gauge just how serious a shopper is about securing a new ride.

BuyerScout actually alerts users when current customers and prospects are actively shopping for a vehicle.

The tool evaluates customers’ online and offline behaviors and scores their actions to detect when they’re ready to buy.

"More than 50 percent of consumers seeking to purchase a vehicle begin gathering information six months prior — and the majority of that time is spent online. Traditionally, it's been extremely difficult for automotive salespeople to get visibility into shoppers' readiness to purchase and vehicle/brand considerations outside of their own website and store," said Dan Smith, vice president of product and marketing at Outsell. "BuyerScout is the only product available to the automotive industry that identifies active shoppers early in the purchase cycle and provides deep insight into the customer's shopping behavior prior to, and after, initial engagement with the dealership.

"The BuyerScout information is like gold to an automobile salesperson."

The tool utilizes data from more than 12,000 automotive websites, and works “to provide a full picture of buying behavior, brand preferences and shopping intensity.”

After synthesizing vehicle, customer, Web and behavioral data, BuyerScout provides the dealers a daily "most likely buyers" report, identifying who's actively shopping for a vehicle, along with details on any competitive makes/models that the shoppers may also be considering, company officials explained.

BuyerScout is available through Outsell's Digital Engagement Platform, and more than 280 auto dealerships across four automotive brands are already using the new tool.

One dealership already using BuyerScout is Tom Hesser Chevrolet in Scranton, Pa.

Internet sales manager Adam Jones said, "BuyerScout is fantastic and provides valuable ammo for us. The data shows us how we stack up against competition. Now that we have it, I can't imagine not using this tool at our dealership.

"Based on BuyerScout's scoring system, we are able to identify and qualify customers more accurately. It's another piece of the puzzle to help us win more business from other dealers."