Lotlinx, a leader in VIN-specific data for dealership inventory management, recently launched Lotlinx Sentinel, an advanced vehicle risk mitigation platform. Sentinel uses machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and data mining to monitor real-time market factors affecting VIN outcomes. Its goal is to reduce the time vehicles spend on lots, increase profit margins, and enhance market competitiveness by predicting risks and implementing corrective actions at the VIN level. By reallocating marketing resources to counteract aging and markdowns, Sentinel boosts dealer performance and profitability.
The Lotlinx VIN Management Platform (VMP), now powered by Lexaca, features an AI-assisted chatbot using the industry’s largest dealer inventory dataset. Lexaca offers comprehensive market and competitive data for each vehicle, aiding dealerships in strategy and decision-making for every VIN or vehicle segment, such as condition, body style, and model.
Lexaca answers inventory-related questions down to the VIN level, drawing on over a decade of historical data and tracking more than 160 market factors affecting each VIN across U.S. dealer lots. This sophisticated chatbot transforms complex information into clear, actionable insights, serving as a digital assistant that understands complex queries and delivers tailored insights. By uncovering opportunities to streamline operations and enhance decision-making, Lexaca offers a competitive edge in the automotive market.
Len Short, chairman and CEO at Lotlinx, emphasizes that their proprietary data mining and machine learning technologies are designed to help dealerships sell cars more efficiently and profitably. Despite advanced digital marketing stacks, some VINs still lack the necessary attention to sell on time and profitably. Sentinel addresses this by ensuring every vehicle garners the necessary shopper engagement to meet dealers’ volume and gross objectives.
Sentinel leverages Lotlinx’s extensive dataset of over 24 billion data points and the Lotlinx Automotive Network, the first VIN-level omnichannel platform. Using a Shopper Intensity Score (SIS), this platform drives ideal shoppers to the right vehicles, helping identify active, ready-to-buy individuals and directing advertising dollars efficiently.
In real-world testing, Sentinel has shown impressive results for Lotlinx dealer partners, including a 300% increase in VIN coverage on digital advertising platforms, a nearly 200% decrease in cost per shopping session, a doubling of shopping sessions, a 300% surge in goal conversions, and a 130% increase in new-to-franchise shoppers. Kia of Everett in the Pacific Northwest saw a 43% reduction in days on lot by using Lotlinx data to better manage inventory and target hard-to-sell units, leading to increased sales.
Erik Butler, general manager at Kia of Everett, reports a nearly 30% year-over-year sales increase, attributing this growth to the strategic partnership with Lotlinx. Sentinel and Lexaca, powered by the Lotlinx VMP, provide dealerships with tools to reduce inventory risk, increase profits, and better serve customers. The Lotlinx VMP also helps dealers target local customers, identifying the number of active shoppers in their area to maximize reach and sales potential.