ADESA Launches Industry-Leading Recommendations Carousel on ADESA.com

Proprietary Algorithm Identifies the Best Vehicles for Each Dealer’s Inventory Needs

ADESA, a business unit of global vehicle remarketing and technology solutions provider KAR Auction Services Inc. (NYSE: KAR), announces the launch of the industry’s first personalized vehicle Recommendations carousel for used-vehicle dealers. Available to eligible subscribing customers on ADESA.com, the Recommendations carousel provides unique, real-time buying recommendations tailored for each individual dealer directly on their ADESA.com home page. This new capability was developed over the past several years by DRIVIN, KAR’s data science subsidiary, and utilizes a proprietary, complex algorithm to generate recommendations based on more than 300 independent data points.

“We are thrilled to deliver this pioneering new functionality to our dealers and empower them with the information they need to make the best, fastest and most economically calculated decisions possible,” said John Hammer, president of ADESA. “By analyzing vehicles based on each dealer’s specific geography, market conditions, lot characteristics and buyer base, our recommendations save dealers time and eliminate the guesswork around what’s most likely to lead to a quick retail sale. The Recommendations carousel is a great example of what KAR does best — leveraging data and capabilities from across our platform to simplify remarketing and help our customers succeed.”

The Recommendations carousel appears as soon as a dealer logs into ADESA.com or clicks the Recommendations tab. Real-time data science powers DRIVIN’s proprietary algorithms, which evaluate hundreds of data points and aggregate them into distinct decision factors that ultimately determine the inventory recommended. A simple color-coded badge scheme accompanying each vehicle tells dealers why the recommendation was made. Examples of badges include Low Lot Supply, signaling the dealer has a lower supply than their 90-day average, and Recent Success, indicating a dealer recently sourced similar inventory that led to a successful retail sale.

“No more hunches. Our recommendations are based on cutting-edge data science — bringing facts and real value to active ADESA.com customers,” said Joe Oliveri, vice president of Data as a Service at KAR. “And the selections are proven to be on-target. In the first 90 days of our pilot, nearly one in four dealers who clicked to explore the vehicles specially chosen for that dealership bought one of them. The program learns every time it’s utilized, so we expect that number to go up as more dealers take advantage of having the right inventory selected for them.”

The Recommendations carousel began appearing in subscriber accounts on a staggered schedule in August 2019. It will roll out to 16,000 dealers by the end of August and to 20,000 by the end of September. The pilot began running March 1.

ADESA is a leading provider of vehicle auction and remarketing services with 74 vehicle auctions throughout North America.