Aston Barclay launches ‘buyer app’ to meet customer demand

Aston Barclay has launched its new Buyer App, which is free to download on the app store in Android or IOS format.

The app has been developed to meet the increasing needs of buyers who run their business on their smart phone, making it easier for them to connect to used stock, says Aston Barclay.

The first buyers to use it will be those on hard hat tours of Aston Barclay’s new Donington site which are happening this week.

Phase two will see the Buyer App detecting buyers walking into an auction and pinging them a message about relevant stock coming up in that day’s sale. It will also identify buying patterns and flag up similar stock at sales across the group.

Buyers will also have live access to video and audio and the ability to search stock by colour and fuel grade as well as have access to each car’s Aston Barclay and NAMA condition grades.

Buyer research running up to the recent acquisition said apps were key to helping them find the right stock more easily which has been reinforced by the group’s web traffic via mobile devices growing to 48.7% in June 2017, 69.2% via an Apple product.

“Surveying our buyers they said an app would be incredibly useful in helping speed up their connectivity with relevant stock,” said Stewart Ford, Aston Barclay group’s IT director. “The App will also enable buyers and sellers to engage via their mobile devices.”

He added: “Our Vendor App is set for launch in December and will enable vendors to target buyers with video message offers and promotions.

“We believe it’s the first time a physical auction business has hooked up buyers and vendors in this way, while still supporting local customers that just want to turn up and buy cars.”

CEO Neil Hodson continued: “We have bridged the gap between the physical auction and the mobile space; connecting our buyers and sellers like never before and helping them to source and sell more vehicles, more effectively.”

The group’s digital initiatives are being extended across all physical sites with screens being installed to show the sale’s running order as well as providing exposure for vendor branding and buyer offers and incentives.

Digital pods are being installed in the auction halls, the first in July in Westbury, to enable buyers to search for stock from across the group and to check on provisional bids.

To maximise the technology buy-in ‘digital eagles’ are being appointed at each branch to work with buyers on how best to use the app.

The group’s digital journey started back in 2015 when it launched its own cloud-based Single Core Auction Management system which has speeded up the current app launch programme.