ATLANTA -

Since launching its mobile platform last February, Manheim has enjoyed more than 2 million customer visits to its mobile site.

In the first six months of this year, Manheim calculated that it reached 1 million mobile visits — a feat that company officials say took nearly all of 2010 to accomplish.

In fact, Manheim highlighted this week that the number of visits to the mobile site has increased 122 percent year-over-year since June 2010, with the site averaging more than 5,500 visits per day.

Manheim also shared some dealer feedback to show why its mobile platform is generating so much traffic.

“I was impressed with how easy it was to purchase a vehicle straight from my phone,” stated Benjamin Weber, of Gabriel Jordan Ford Mercury in Livingston, Texas, north of Houston.

Weber purchased his first unit on Manheim’s mobile platform in June.

“Now that I know how effortless the process is, I am looking forward to using my smartphone to quickly bid on and buy OVE.com cars in the future,” Weber indicated.

Manheim’s mobile platform is designed to satisfy customers’ desires to do business on demand.

The company’s mobile strategy is driven by industry trends that show smartphones comprise the majority of all new cell phone purchases in the U.S. and will likely become the device of choice in the remarketing industry as more millennials (people age 18 to 34) continue to assume dealership management roles.

In short, Manheim believes its mobile strategy can allow today’s and tomorrow’s customers to transact business in more, better and easier ways.

The current suite of mobile features includes:

—Bid and Buy that can provide dealers the option to buy now, place a bid or autobid on any OVE.com inventory from their mobile device. 

—Make an Offer that invites buyers to “make an offer” and suggest the value they think a unit is worth on designated vehicles.

—Simulcast Proxy Bidding that can enable buyers to place proxy bids on Manheim Simulcast listings via the mobile website.

—My Buying Activity can allow customers to easily track recent OVE.com Buying Activity from Manheim’s mobile website, including units with live bids, on offer, won and lost. 

—Mobile MMR puts the company’s wholesale vehicle pricing guide, the Manheim Market Report, right into the palm of its customers’ hands.

Joe George, group vice president of Manheim Digital, explained all of the benefits of Manheim’s mobile platform are designed to allow any customer with a mobile phone and an Internet connection to transact business with the company whenever and however they want to — whether in the lanes or in the airport.

“We’re focused on allowing our customers to engage the Manheim marketplace anytime and anywhere — whether preparing for a sale, scanning a VIN for Manheim Market Report values or buying,” George highlighted.

“A perfect example of this was our first mobile sale when our customer conducted the transaction from his kitchen table,” he shared.

As Manheim’s mobile platform becomes increasingly popular among customers, the company also rolled out a significant update to its Apple iPhone app last month. The app can provide all of the functionality of the mobile site, and the iPhone’s powerful camera allows customers to scan vehicle VINs and capture MMR results as well as Carfax and AutoCheck reports.

Manheim determined there have been more than 33,000 unique downloads since the iPhone app launched last November. The company noted an app for Google Android smartphones will be released soon.

“Mobile phones have been part of the used-car business for decades, and the ability to now deliver the digital purchasing power of Manheim to those devices opens a whole new world of opportunity and efficiency for our customers,” said Amy Mills, senior director of product management at Manheim Digital.

“Our commitment is to continually explore and develop the new tools available through this platform in ways that return value for our customers,” Mills continued.

“After introducing industry-changing innovations such as Simulcast and OVE.com, Manheim continues its leadership in the remarketing industry with a comprehensive mobile offering for its customers,” she concluded.