The COVID-19 pandemic and national quarantine has led to unprecedented challenges for auto dealers across the country. Plano-based CarOffer wants to help.

CarOffer, an automated instant wholesale vehicle trade platform, has launched a new consumer vehicle acquisition channel for all of its dealer partners. The new Consumer Buying feature is intended to help reduce overhead, drive traffic, and generate sales. And it’s entirely free.

“We want to help dealers drive incremental sales right now during this difficult environment,” Bruce Thompson, CarOffer’s CEO and founder, said in a statement. “Looking ahead, there will be uncertainty and volatility in auction lanes across the country as regions begin to lift restrictions. We are leveraging all of our solutions and capabilities to help dealers succeed and be prepared for the post-pandemic market.”

Thompson and his team planned on releasing the product later this year, but felt that dealers needed it now given the long-term impact COVID-19 has inflicted on the auto industry. While staff is limited, CarOffer hopes they can bring productivity to temporarily closed brick and mortar retailers.

The Consumer Buying feature is meant to enhance efficiency for dealerships that are marketing and selling vehicles. According to CarOffer, it works like this:

[The Consumer Buying solution] automates the delivery of co-branded invitations to eligible upgrade candidates in service drives as well as those in a dealer’s database. Dealers may also use the functionality on their websites to allow consumers to get instant offers for their vehicles. Once a consumer accepts an offer, the dealer partner may keep the vehicle or wholesale it on the CarOffer trade platform. Also included are world-class graphic design, marketing, data management and eligibility profiling with full DMS and CRM integrations. 

Consumer Buying is free during the pandemic, and CarOffer will determine subsequent special performance-based pricing. The company also said it plans on rolling out additional features ahead of schedule to support dealers throughout the global health crisis.

For instance, CarOffer has more than 900 dealers in its installation queue, but is working on training and implementation for all of them.

CarOffer said it is the first platform of its kind for the retail automotive industry. The online marketplace helps dealers trade, buy, and make more with its subscription-less model and tech-based seamless solutions.

In its first six months, CarOffer reached $60 million in monthly sales, and had 100 percent dealer rooftop growth in January. The company’s real-time bidding service now processes more than $1.2 billion in vehicle offers daily.

Get on the list.
Dallas Innovates, every day.

Sign up to keep your eye on what’s new and next in Dallas-Fort Worth, every day.