Experian is extending its Car Data Check website with Inventory Management, a data extraction, cleansing and enhancement service for dealers. The system profiles stock daily from the dealer management system and sends the data to a number of sources, including the carmaker and dealer websites, and stock locator sites.

“Inventory Management will increase sales because it has a fast upload of available stock and a standardised data feed for every search,” says Experian's Neil Hodson.

Customers access stock via the Car Data Check website which contains links to the dealer's homepage. Around 30 retailers are piloting the system which goes on sale in April.

Future developments include prospect matching which correlates potential buyers to cars by assessing their buying trends. “We've found that in some cases up to 40% of the dealer's database customers had sold their car and were no longer a customer,” says Hodson.