Motor dealers are increasingly using mobile technology in the showroom according to new market data from automotive data experts, cap hpi.
Since March 2017, valuations carried out on mobile phones by dealers have increased from 7% to 13.5% in March 2018. Tablet valuations have also risen slightly, increasing to 3.8% in 2018 from 2.3% in 2017. Desktop valuations on PC have dropped from 90% to 82% in the same period.
Mobile valuations now account for nearly 10% of all valuation activity.
Valuation Anywhere is cap hpi’s flagship web-based valuations tool for automotive sales professionals. Every day thousands of automotive businesses rely on this digital online tool to generate accurate valuations for cars, bikes and commercial vehicles, supporting their business decisions.
The amount of time dealers spend online securing valuations has doubled in the past 12 months to 4.5 minutes per session. The number of online valuation sessions has also increased from 6.2 to 9.7 seconds per session on average since March 2017.
Derren Martin, head of current valuations at cap hpi, said: “Our latest insight indicates that dealers increasingly want access to instant valuations hence the growth in mobile and tablet valuations. With VRM lookups possible 24/7, 365 days a year, dealers can access car, bike, LCV and HGV valuations immediately, whenever and wherever they want.
“With so many vehicle types and derivatives available, accurately estimating the value of a vehicle takes a great deal of time and effort. Getting it wrong can prove costly for dealers and lose them money. Getting it right means vehicle profits are maximised. Valuation Anywhere enables dealers to easily establish a vehicle’s value by simply typing in its registration and mileage, gaining access to 62,000 car ID’s and mileage-adjusted valuations within seconds. We’ll continue to see increased growth of mobile valuations in the industry as dealers continue to reap the benefits of convenience, speed, accuracy and profit maximisation that the service provides.”
