Multi-platform selling: the new water-cooler topic in the remarketing business, and an issue that many in the industry are keeping a close eye on.

It’s an issue that’s been examined by different leaders of the business, including the International Automotive Remarketers Alliance, Auto Auction Services Corp., and Liquid Motors.

Gus Xamplas, vice president of remarketing for Donlen, said recently he will be “watching this issue closely,” as it is one that could create a “new sales environment” in the wholesale industry.

Xamplas — who is also the vice president of IARA and a panelist for Auto Remarketing’s upcoming Used Car Week conferences — addressed the future of multi-platform selling in a recent article he authored on Donlen’s website.
Xamplas began by explaining that if, or when, the market moves to “true multi-platform selling,” it would in turn speed up the wholesale buying and selling process for dealers and consignors.

Ricky Beggs, senior vice president and editorial director of Black Book, also shared with Auto Remarketing his take on the current industry “buzz” term.

“It (multi-platform sales) helps by simplifying the listing of vehicles through various platforms now joining together,” he said. “The main issue is to maintain optimum visibility across all platforms, and this will help the seller by getting more eyes on their inventory.”

Beggs also went on to coin multi-platform selling as “a progression of helping facilitate more online sales.”
Xamplas gave the example of purchasing an airline ticket through an Internet hub that allows you to search multiple providers at once.

A similar concept is behind the usage of multi-selling platforms for consignors in the wholesale auto business.
In the past, consignors have had to list their units separately on wholesale Internet platforms, “and in order to avoid selling the same vehicle twice, consigners have to monitor all the platforms and pull postings down from all the sites when a unit sells on one,” Xamplas said.

Now, this time-intensive process may be about to change.

Following in the footsteps of sites like Expedia for travel and hotel bookings, Xamplas contends, “Remarketing will follow suit with a single portal that allows competitive bidding among all the dealers simultaneously.

“Dealers will be able to search and bid on all Internet inventories at once — not just what would normally be posted on their favorite site,” he added, explaining that this new trend may change the game for both consignors and dealers.
Xamplas also stressed that though multi-platform sales presents an opportunity to further simplify the wholesale market and the buying and selling involved, “this is no small undertaking.”

To read the entire story and learn more about this topic, check out the print and digital editions of the Aug. 15-31 Auto Remarketing for complete coverage of multi-platform selling.
 

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