EBlock powers McConkey’s digital auction expansion into California
McConkey Auction Group is going all in on EBlock.
The Spokane, Wash.-based group, which has been using EBlock’s dealer-to-dealer auction platform and Live Auction channel in its MAG NOW digital auction, is expanding that platform’s range into Northern California “from Fresno to the Oregon border,” according to MAG’s website.
In a news release, EBlock said the expansion is “stitching together” EBlock’s territory in Southern California and north part of the state.
“This technology has enabled us to grow in our Pacific Northwest and now our Alaska marketplace,” McConkey Auction Group president and CEO Bob McConkey said. “Our partnership with EBlock continues to deliver a best-in-class auction experience to our shared customers and this expansion is the outcome of our longstanding partnership.”
EBlock said McConkey’s move into California is a step forward in EBlock’s omnichannel auction strategy, offering multiple buying and selling channels under one auction platform. That includes LiveLanes, which was launched this year at EBlock’s Inland Empire full-service, physical auction in Corona, Calif.
LiveLanes is a simulcast technology designed to merge physical and digital auctions into one consistent auction event. MAG launched LiveLanes in its Alaska market in January.
“Time and again our buyers and sellers tell me what a uniquely easy and beneficial way of doing business LiveLines has created,” EBlock Inland Empire general manager David Thompson said. “With the omnichannel marketplace and LiveLanes, EBlock delivers what others have tried – taking technology and our team’s experience into a singular platform that helps our customers transact the way they want.”
EBlock president Lisa Scott said working with MAG is part of her company’s strategy of partnering with “well-established leaders” in key markets.
“Being able to license our technology to valuable partners like the McConkey Auction Group in order to expand dealers’ access to inventory, buyers and end–to-end services is just one of the ways EBlock is evolving the wholesale experience,” Scott said. “There are a great deal of opportunities we are pursuing, and we look forward to delivering the future of automotive wholesale.”