HomeNet's Rapid Retail Accelerates Vehicle Turn

Reduces online time-to-market for auction purchased vehicles from days to hours

News provided by

Oct 10, 2017, 13:05 ET

EXTON, Pa., Oct. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Rapid Retail, a newly launched addition to HomeNet's Inventory Online (IOL) platform, was named one of 2017's most innovative automotive retail products by Driving Sales in their annual Executive Summit Innovation Cup competition. Rapid Retail's integrated technology collects detailed data and real, non-damage photos from vehicles purchased at any Manheim location in the U.S., applies merchandising treatments while in transit, and distributes that inventory to dealer websites and online advertising platforms.

Cox Automotive's HomeNet is the only auto retail partner with the ability to quickly market auction buys within hours of the gavel dropping. The speed and its associated value is only possible because of the rich data sharing between fellow Cox Automotive brands HomeNet and Manheim. "It can take ten days on average for inventory from the auction to appear online with photos and descriptions," said Russ Daniels, Senior Manager, Product Marketing, HomeNet Automotive. "Rapid Retail imports vehicle data and photos from the auction into IOL in hours, providing speed to market to accelerate vehicle turn."

As dealerships face a post-peak era and tight margin compression, speed to market and technology to streamline dealer operations to protect profits becomes more important than ever. A one to two week delay has a cascading negative effect on a dealership: in addition to racking up holding cost, it also creates a lag and inconsistencies in vehicle marketing on the website and in the showroom, which add up to missed opportunities to capture interest from shoppers and reduced front-end gross.

Rapid Retail allows for lead generation and even the purchase of auction vehicles before they arrive on the dealers' lot. "My dealership benefits from faster speed to market as we're able to start conversations with customers early, and make them aware of cars we bought only hours before," said Jimmy Esteves, Sales Manager, Paul Miller BMW in Wayne, New Jersey. "The extra days of exposure create more interactions with customers. Some are calling my dealership before the car arrives."

HomeNet's Rapid Retail solution will be featured at the Driving Sales Executive Summit Innovation Cup Product Showcase in Las Vegas, October 22-24, 2017.

About HomeNet
At HomeNet Automotive, we help dealers merchandise and distribute their inventory from one unified platform and seamlessly push this information to their own website and their third-party advertising sources. Simply put, HomeNet helps you save time and sell more cars by getting inventory out of your system and in front of online shoppers.

Based in Exton, PA, with offices across the U.S., HomeNet is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cox Automotive.

About Cox Automotive
Cox Automotive Inc. is transforming the way the world buys, sells and owns cars with industry-leading digital marketing, financial, retail and wholesale solutions for consumers, dealers, manufacturers and the overall automotive ecosystem worldwide. Committed to open choice and dedicated to strong partnerships, the Cox Automotive family includes Autotrader®, Dealer.com®, Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, vAuto®, Xtime® and a host of other brands. The global company has 32,000-plus team members in more than 200 locations and is partner to more than 40,000 auto dealers, as well as most major automobile manufacturers, while engaging U.S. consumer car buyers with the most recognized media brands in the industry. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., an Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion and approximately 60,000 employees. Cox Enterprises' other major operating subsidiaries include Cox Communications and Cox Media Group. For more information about Cox Automotive, visit www.coxautoinc.com.

SOURCE Cox Automotive