ATLANTA – Buyers know that getting the right vehicle at the right time is critical to maximizing profits in the ultra-competitive used car industry—but that can be challenging during an auction sale day where thousands of vehicles are crossing multiple auction blocks in just a few hours. With Manheim’s Lane Alerts, buyers can receive a text message in advance of a vehicle they’re interested coming up for sale, so they will never miss the opportunity to bid on a unit they need. In the six months since Lane Alerts launched, over 33,000 vehicles have sold to a client who set up a Lane Alert and received that Lane Alert message.
“The adage, ‘you can’t be everywhere all the time’ is never truer than during a busy auction sale day when it is critical that a buyer be in the right lane to bid on the cars they need most,” said Zach Hallowell, vice president, Manheim Digital Marketplace and RMS Automotive. “Lane Alerts is another example of how Manheim is ‘meeting our clients where they want to be’ by augmenting the auction experience with technology in order to making doing business with us easier and faster.”
Previously, buyers would have to spend time reviewing run lists and planning out their sale day strategy to ensure that they could bid on the right vehicles—which consumed time that they could be devoting to other parts of their businesses. With Lane Alerts, dealers can simply click to watch vehicles and be confident that they can make it to the right lane in time to bid on specific units. Lane Alerts work equally well for buyers using Simulcast or attending physical sales, by helping ensure they don’t miss an opportunity to purchase cars that they have identified as needing the most.
Robert Christensen, president of Apple Auto Sales, Inc., said of the new feature: “The new Lane Alert is one of the best improvements I have seen in years. Until now, I have had to look at each of the presale lists for the lanes that had cars I wanted, find out how many unfilled lane spots there were and then try to calculate when my vehicles were going to be running through so I could bid on them. Now, it is so easy! I like that I get an alert on my phone when the vehicle is 10 vehicles away from entering the auction block—it is perfect for me to be prepared for bidding.”
From January 2018 when Lane Alerts launched through June 2018, nearly 60,000 clients opted in to Lane Alerts. Over 700,000 Lane Alert text messages have been sent, with over 33,000 vehicles being sold to the client who received a Lane Alert message. Vehicles with a Lane Alert set have a higher conversion rate compared to those without an alert.
Dealers can sign up for Lane Alerts through their dealer profile at manheim.com/lanealerts or directly from vehicle details pages or search results pages on Manheim.com. They then select to receive Lane Alert notifications for the units they want to watch in an upcoming sale. A text message will be sent to their mobile device prior to the watched vehicle crossing the block.
