Like many industries, auto recycling is starting to embrace a global perspective. A car on the road in the UK might contain recycled steel from a salvaged Canadian vehicle. A truck in India could be running thanks to recycled parts from a U.S. vehicle shipped overseas. These are just two of many opportunities created by the auto recycling industry’s new global ecosystem – which IAA, Inc. helped to create and is committed to expanding.
IAA’s global strategy of connecting buyers to salvage inventory maximises vehicles’ value and promotes sustainability in the automotive industry worldwide. This environmentally conscious approach leverages an ever-evolving digital landscape to give buyers everywhere access to IAA’s inventory of salvage vehicles in the U.S., UK and Canada. Through e-commerce, IAA enables capable hands throughout the world to access and recycle materials that might otherwise have been discarded. By creating this global marketplace, IAA is helping to save space in landfills and to satisfy unique transportation needs of people around the world.
Growth through local Market Alliance Partners
IAA has connected buyers in 170 countries to its more than 200 branches in the U.S., UK and Canada. Its global footprint features auction centers in 25 markets and a robust network of Market Alliance partners to facilitate buying and shipping inventory overseas. Even in the midst of the pandemic, this strategy proved successful. IAA’s global buyer base grew by 40% last year, introducing recyclers, dismantlers, exporters and rebuilders worldwide to its available inventory.
Official partners within the Market Alliance network leverage the IAA brand so that buyers know the global reach of the local businesses at a glance. This creates opportunities for those business partners in developing countries and establishes a real, personal presence for IAA at the local level. Market Alliance partners provide assistance to buyers in their communities for everything from vehicle assessment and research to bidding, purchasing, payment and shipping. Distance between the vehicle and the buyer is no longer an obstacle in the global ecosystem. IAA has proven this through extensive e-commerce and merchandising development.
Trust and transparency in a virtual marketplace
Not long ago purchasing a vehicle meant visiting a dealer or, in the case of a recycler, a salvage yard. In-person vehicle assessment, negotiations and live auctions were the only options. And logistical concerns usually limited buyers to purchasing within a small geographic area.
Now, buyers regularly make significant investments through online vehicle purchasing outlets. Removing the in-person component to salvage vehicles, however, might feel higher risk than standard transactions. IAA has taken on that challenge directly and pioneered a digital user experience that gives buyers exactly what they need to know to feel confident in their purchases.
IAA leverages artificial intelligence, machine learning and advanced technology to connect and communicate with buyers worldwide. In the U.S. in 2020, the company launched IAA Interact™, a revolutionary e-commerce merchandising platform featuring a suite of digital imagery, information and personalisation tools. IAA Interact became available to the UK and Canadian markets in 2021.
IAA Interact includes a 360-degree view of the interior and exterior with high-quality imagery for every vehicle in its inventory, as well as a 10-second video with full sound of the engine running. Providing this level of detail across nearly all inventory sets a new standard for the buyer experience in the auto recycling industry. IAA Interact focuses on creating a bond between buyer and seller to retain the global buyer pool and extract as much value as possible from every vehicle.
IAA also launched AuctionNow™ in the UK this year, delivering its patented digital auction platform to buyers in the market. This gives UK buyers access to IAA’s suite of digital auction tools and further connects buyers globally. Feedback from UK buyers has been overwhelmingly positive since the launch.
Positioned to drive value
Transparency in a digital marketplace limits buyers’ risk in global transactions, increasing trust in IAA and allowing buyers to purchase vehicles confidently, regardless of location. This helps yield more bids, driving up the value of salvage vehicles and encouraging a steady stream of inventory.
With this approach, IAA has established itself as a global leader in the auto recycling industry. It plans to continue innovating and expanding its e-commerce merchandising platforms, while growing its network of global partners to reach more established and developing countries. Providing global access to salvage inventory will help to ensure that more vehicles are recycled for the benefit of the environment, people and businesses around the world.
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