Joe,
Ryan's correct. We launched a sales prediction product late last year called CarStory Insights. We use machine learning and AI to predict when every car on a dealer's lot will sell.
Your point about online engagement is spot on and Ryan's correct. We use the CarStory Market Report (which is free for dealers) to capture demand signals. While we also use demand data coming from marketplaces, there is no question that dealer site engagement is the strongest and purest signal.
In addition to online engagement, we are also analyzing supply and demand for similar vehicles, feature preferences in a local market and market position. Beyond the vehicle, we also take into account a dealer's past performance. We believe that predictions need to be dealer specific vs. just looking at a piece of inventory in a local market.
In about a week we'll be rolling out a new capability called the Price Explorer. This feature gives you the ability to run what-if pricing analysis on each vehicle. Not only will this help with day-to-day pricing management, but it also helps with situations like the one you described above. As always you'll be able to see your competition and when their vehicles are predicted to sell at current prices.
Here is a quick video demo that shows the Price Explorer and Competitive detail: [MEDIA=youtube]-fOhvim9d2I[/MEDIA]
Also, the product is free to try for 30 days. If you're interested, you can sign-up here: https://www.carstory.ai/insights/
Hope this info helps.
-Chad
