HOUSTON -

For dealerships, trade-ins are often a valuable — and coveted — source of quality used inventory.

With that in mind, tech company CARPHORIA announced Monday it has grown its dealer services offering with a new tool: Trade-In Valet.

The new tool is designed to help dealers capture more consumer trade-ins, and is based on consumer behavioral modeling.

Here’s how it works: the new subscription service works through a dealer app that is embedded on the store’s website. Consumers can enter their trade-in info and receive an offer range via email before coming into the dealership, helping them better understand the value of their existing vehicle.

Oftentimes, trade-in pricing can be one of the biggest pain-points of the new-vehicle purchase process as many shoppers might not understand why the trade-in value for their vehicle is lower than they originally expected.

"It's a fact. Buying a vehicle is no longer an old-school operation. Today's buyers are more sophisticated than ever and require far more information before they are willing to award their business to a particular dealership," said Michael Dodd, chief executive officer of CARPHORIA.

"Every study we read indicates that today's consumers want a stress-free sales process from dealers willing to sell the way they want to buy. Trade-In Valet does just that. Consumers get the information needed to make a well-informed decision while dealers receive the tools and processes in order to meet consumers' shopping demands. The end result? Higher retail deliveries and gross profit with happier customers,” he continued.

The Trade-In Valet tool and buy-back service uses unique vehicle data in order to provide the true value of each vehicle, company management shared.

"Dealerships that understand there is a new way of doing business and embrace the consumer evolution are ending up the clear winner in the competition for consumers business. It isn't the lowest price that today's consumers are looking for, it is about information, experience and trust," said Dodd.