Next Phase Media, Inc., an online referral source, and its subsidiary OpenAuto.com, announced a new online used-car service that improves the efficiency of matching a buyer with their pre-owned vehicle. With OpenAuto, consumers merely enter their "dream" used-car parameters online and the vehicle request is instantly transmitted to hundreds of local dealers. Dealers can choose to purchase leads based on their used-car inventory, enabling sales to be finalized more quickly than ever.
"Instead of making the buyer do the work, OpenAuto leverages the power of the Internet to find the consumer the exact used vehicle they want," said Payam Zamani, CEO and president of Next Phase Media. "Eliminating the constant need to update online inventory, OpenAuto also simplifies the online used-car sales business for dealers, enabling them to concentrate on their real value – providing the sales and services needed to please today's discriminating consumer."
Until now, dealers have been unable and unwilling to devote the time needed to refresh and update online used-car inventories because they change so rapidly. In fact, dealers typically list only 10 percent of their inventory online, and only one in four actually sell. Even on eBay Motors, 40 percent of the used-car dealers using the service object to the time and attention required by the online auction format. As a result, the online selection for used cars is abysmal and doesn't come close to reflecting the 43 million used cars sold in the United States annually, a far greater number than the 17 million new cars sold yearly.
The patent-pending OpenAuto.com model removes this obstacle by flipping the business model for online used-car sales on its head. As a result of OpenAuto.com's unique business model, it is much easier to find unique or popular pre-owned cars online and days of searching and haggling are leapfrogged, significantly improving the online sales experience. Instead of having to click through hundreds of online ads, consumers only need to enter their request and let OpenAuto do the rest of the work. Interested dealers can purchase the leads based on their in-house inventory, and proactively contact the consumer.
OpenAuto dealers can view all vehicle requests at no charge, including location of customer, distance from dealership, and the specifics of the desired vehicle. When a request does match the dealer's inventory, the dealer can pay for the lead based on its own criteria, including in-stock inventory, location of customer and the gross margin of the prospective sale. Once the lead is purchased, the dealer receives the customer's contact information to present their used car offering to the potential buyer.
