Nov 11 2011
Obtaining vehicle inventory for classified listing sites or lead generating sites can be a daunting task for a new solution provider or a provider who wishes to augment current vehicle marketing programs for auto dealers.
The best way to list current inventory is to work directly with a company that has compiled this information, identifying vehicle options and taking custom photos of the vehicle. Typically these dealer direct service providers provide daily feeds of a dealers inventory with sold vehicles being removed from the feed each day, and new vehicles added.
Through relationship building and partnerships it is also possible in many cases to obtain current vehicle listings from lead generating aggregators. These aggregators have already built out a substantial inventory listing and may be willing to further the reach of those listings by sharing inventory.
Not a week goes by where we do not hear about some of the challenges involved with these processes and (understandable) confusion over sourcing for inventory data, the completeness of the feed and whether or not the vehicle will require additional VIN decoding and augmentation. We would suggest a review of our white paper on the topic titled "Classified Listing Sites 101". This paper will be useful for any company seeking to obtain inventory, not just classified listing sites.
This paper provides some education on what to expect from DMS polling, Third Party Inventory feeds and data from inventory aggregators. We also discuss what kinds of vehicle data to license, and what not to license from a cost and efficiency standpoint. We hope you find this white paper useful, and if so - drop us a line to let us know!