Auto Trader is replacing its i-Control used car stock pricing platform with a new Retail Accelerator platform in an effort to help retailers claw-back some of the £290 million lost to overage stock each year.

The online car retail specialist said today (April 12) that its new Retail Accelerator offering is a complete forecourt management solution, describing it as “the most powerful tool to sell more stock, faster and for more profit”.

Designed to “complement a retailer’s own expertise” by using what Auto Trader describes as the industry’s largest and most robust data set the system aims to inform every aspect of the retail process and mitigate the effects of overage stock, which is affecting nine-out-of-10 retailers and costing them an average of £24,285 in lost profits each year. 

Auto Trader’s director of commercial products, Karolina Edwards-Smajda, said: “The growing sophistication of data and the algorithms required to analyse it is constantly evolving. However, we leverage the capabilities of our growing data science team to ensure our data-driven products are always at the very forefront of these changes. 

“We’re incredibly proud of the depth of data that we’re able to arm our customers with, and we work hard to provide the most accurate picture of today’s live retail market.

“The shift from focusing on a desirability metric to our new AT Retail Rating across our data-driven products is an example of how we continue to evolve our market intelligence.”

Auto Trader said that Retail Accelerator would build on the success of its predecessor, i-Control, by taking a retailers’ business goals and creating a daily action plan aligned to their desired stock turn.

It enables them to manage their stock inventory more effectively by constantly tracking changing market conditions and delivering proactive alerts on valuation changes, incorrect pricing and ageing stock, as well as dynamic performance reporting to improve their competitive position.

For dealer groups, it said, “this powerful insight is configurable at site, brand or group level and provides unique features to manage stock”.

To ensure retailers have the edge in an increasingly challenging and competitive market place, the tool also enables users to review competitor activity in seconds, with detailed filters and dynamic market views.

Retail Accelerator monitors over 1.9 million vehicles each day, including 90,000 vehicle updates and an average of 19,000 vehicles added or removed from Auto Trader.

Coupled with data from over 450,000 trade used car listings every day, as well as additional dealer forecourt and website data, retailers can buy with confidence using the tool’s new AT Retail Rating insight.