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Glass's launches direct to dealer marketing tool
Date: 14 February 2014 | Author: Jack Carfrae
Glass's has launched a new remarketing system that allows operators to bypass traditional defleeting methods and send used vehicles directly to dealers.
Known as TradeAlerts, the new tool is available to users of the firm's existing GlassNet system (itself a package of valuation, data and sales services).
TradeAlerts works via email alerts that inform users of opportunities to sell vehicles directly to dealers rather than defleeting via traditional channels such as auction houses.
Benefits will include faster and more cost-effective disposal according to the firm.
Speaking to BusinessCar, head of fleet and finance at Glass's, Dan Parnell, said: "It's another route to market for the fleet or remarketing manager.
The tangible benefits are cost reduction - potentially a reduction in holding costs, auction fees and depreciation.
"It's a direct route into dealers, and at the click of a button you get the stock there. If you know your vehicles, you know what will sell well where."
Glass's said it currently has more than 3500 dealers - described by Parnell as "critical mass" - using its GlassNet system, which is where the potential new outlets would come from for fleets.
Parnell added that the system has facilities for detailed pictures and information to clarify the sales process: "You can enrich the information - quality of vehicle information is key, so there's trust between the seller and the person buying."
When asked about the impact on the auction industry, Parnell said: "It's more about empowering choice. Sometimes vehicles sent directly to auction will work, but a strong remarketing manager will know about using different sources.
"In terms of efficiency and time, it should be better than auctions - there are less logistics, therefore it is more efficient. If you want to get people to look at vehicles, it's a lot easier to do that digitally.
"We're all evolving as an industry and the auction companies are becoming increasingly digitised as well. That's the way the industry is moving and will continue to do so. It's the natural evolution."
He cited the benefits enjoyed by leasing companies attached to dealer groups, which have the ability to remarket their vehicles directly to in-house forecourts, and likened the new system to this process.
"Now everybody can benefit from that ability to place vehicles directly with dealers, and we're just extending that."
TradeAlerts is free to GlassNet users until July, after which an as yet unspecified cost will be introduced.
Auction firms BCA and Manheim declined to comment on the presence of the new system.
