British Car Auctions online sales break 100k barrier
BCA has released details of online sales volumes for 2010, which surged past 100,000 units in the UK for the first time on record. In Europe, a further 89,000 units were transacted online by BCA, meaning the company is fast approaching 200,000 annual online sales.
In the UK alone, the company sold 105,863 vehicles via online channels, with the majority selling via Live Online and significant volumes were also recorded on Buy Online and manufacturer online auctions.
Bid Now and Buy Now, which launched in Quarter 4, saw volumes climb sharply with plenty of activity over the Christmas period, as BCA sold cars online during the festivities for the first time. The company offered over 500 cars in the Buy Now online sales format between Christmas Eve and the New Year, with the BCA website attracting up to 2,900 professional trade buyers at peak times. Over 40 major vendors contributed stock for the Christmas period from all market sectors.
The final online sale of the year for BCA came at 8.20 am on New Years Eve as a 2006 Renault Megane cabriolet sold for £3,900. One buyer set a speedy precedent by purchasing a car through the BCA Buy Now Sale, paying for it and collecting it from BCA Bedford all within 12 minutes on Christmas Eve. Another made a purchase just 21 minutes before Christmas day itself and vehicles were also sold on New Years Day.
In all, BCA transacted well over a quarter of a million pounds worth of business during the period, ranging from a 2008 08 plate Audi A5 Sport which sold for £15,500 to a 2003 03 VW Passat which sold for just £1,725. Deliveries were conducted in the first few days of the year.
BCA’s Remarketing Director D’Vidis Jacobs commented “Online sales in the remarketing sector gained some real traction in 2010 and have become an integral part of the sales programme for most volume sellers at BCA. The fact that nearly one in every five vehicles sold by BCA last year was purchased, processed and paid for online is significant indeed.”
He added “While Live Online is an established force in the market, we have been pleased with the swift growth of our Bid Now and Buy Now online selling services since they launched in October. In particular, professional buyers appreciated the opportunity to fill gaps on their forecourt that appeared over the festive season with instant online purchasing with BCA. We recorded an average of 2,000 plus professional trade visitors a day to the website during the holiday period which shows there is an appetite for this service. There were even professional buyers browsing on Christmas day itself.”
BCA customer, Imperial Cars of Swanick were very active during the festive period, purchasing up to 7 vehicles at a time. The company’s Business Development Manager, Neil Smith commented, “Between Christmas and New Year we were very busy and being able to source specific vehicles for our customers during this period was really useful. Buy Now is another avenue we can use to source vehicles whilst knowing the exact price we need to pay, vehicle description and spec and we can secure the vehicle with a press of a button without having to travel to a sale. We like this way of buying and will continue to use it.”
Jacobs concluded “The daily ‘Bid Now’ and ‘Buy Now’ online-only sales on the BCA website effectively mean our customers can sell and buy used vehicles 24/7, 365 days a year. With used vehicles becoming an increasingly vital profit source for retail dealers, it is inevitable that these specialist online channels will continue to grow in importance for stock acquisition. The majority of our leading vendors agree and are already offering stock in these online sales to complement their physical and Live Online presence in the marketplace.”
