The IAA brand has been in the UK for five months now, last week ATF Professional caught up with UK Managing Director, Steve Hankins to hear about IAA’s latest technological innovation – IAA Interact.
ATF Pro: The last time we spoke you’d just completed the IAA rebrand and the install of your VISion Salvage Management ERP system – what have you been up to since then?
SH: In a word, investment. Investment in people, logistics, facilities, and technology… a lot of investment in technology.
ATF Pro: IAA talks about technology all the time – is IAA a technology business or a salvage agent?
SH: IAA is a technology business that processes salvage vehicles – millions of them every year. We look at salvage differently. We see innovation and technology as the key drivers of success, both for IAA and for our customers. And we lead the market– in the past ten years, IAA has launched more technology innovations and new products in our markets than all other salvage providers combined.
ATF Pro: Are you working on any innovations at the moment?
SH: Yes, and a really exciting one – we’re currently rolling out our merchandising platform IAA Interact which is going to transform how buyers view and bid on salvage vehicles.
ATF Pro: In our previous conversation you mentioned ‘merchandising’, what do you mean by this?
SH: When we say merchandising, we simply mean how a retailer presents products to its buying customers. As customers migrate from traditional retail environments to eCommerce platforms, online merchandising has to evolve and improve – that includes merchandising a vehicle. IAA Interact is the next generation in vehicle merchandising.
ATF Pro: Is merchandising really that important for vehicle salvage?
SH: Absolutely! In the salvage world, each vehicle is unique, no two are truly the same because each accident or collision produces a different piece of salvage. That variation means that for a buyer to make an informed, confident bidding and purchasing decision, they want details. What we’ve found from extensive research is that the detail needs to come in the form of imagery and information.
ATF Pro: And is that what IAA Interact provides?
SH: That’s it – IAA Interact provides the buyer with the imagery and information they’ve told us they want. It includes hugely enhanced imagery, information and personalisation which gives buyers greater confidence when they’re bidding and buying. It provides an immersive and interactive experience like being physically present with the vehicle – and that’s pretty useful in our new socially distanced, digital world. We launched IAA Interact in the US and Canada earlier this year and it’s been really well received by both buyers and sellers. We’re starting the UK roll-out with the launch of IAA 360 View this month.
ATF Pro: Can you tell us a bit more about IAA 360 View?
SH: It’s a sophisticated imaging technology that provides a 360° view of vehicle exteriors and interiors; it allows you to rotate, zoom and pan a vehicle image, creating a truly interactive experience. It’s as close as possible to physically walking around the car, a virtual reality experience if you will – it puts buyers in control of viewing the vehicle. The technology has been developed by SpinCar® a world leader in vehicle merchandising and IAA has exclusivity in the salvage market.
ATF Pro: What can we expect to see next from IAA??
SH: Well the roll-out of IAA Interact continues. We are looking at several key areas including showing the engine running, higher resolution imagery and additional integration with SpinCar. We’re also looking at content personalisation that provides our vehicle buyers with bespoke content and options based on their research, bidding and buying behaviour.
Also, in Q4 we’ve opened up our UK inventory to our global buyer base in over 170 countries across the world.
ATF Pro: In summary, what do you think IAA brings to the UK salvage market?
SH: Essentially a different approach to salvage management, one built on technology and innovation. Technology is where IAA really creates a difference, IAA Interact is just the first step in a series of innovations that we’re launching in the coming months. Our goal is to transform salvage management in the UK through technology and innovation; we have a lot more to show the market and we think your readers will like what they see.
To find out more from IAA, visit www.iaaiuk.co.uk
