Digital used vehicle buying activity increased during the third quarter of 2019, with web views increasing nearly two thirds, according to Aston Barclay’s latest Insights Used Car Market Report.

The web views rose 61.8%, with one in three of all sales taking place online.

A 50% increase in mobile bids took place during the third quarter, with buyers bidding for stock during the holiday season via the Buyer’s App.

Auction hall bids were on the decrease although the group delivered high sales conversion rates above 90%

Daren Wiseman, digital strategy director at Aston Barclay, said: “Dealer buying habits are continually changing as they fight to buy the very best used stock.

“Mobile bids more than doubled during August as buyers bid on stock from their Buyer’s App whilst on holiday with fingertip access to our physical and digital sales channels.

“In the current market where demand is very strong buyers are putting themselves in the box seat by using technology to search and bid on the best quality stock while still attending some auctions.”

During the third quarter, Mercedes-Benz was the front-runner amongst the OEM brands for receiving online bids, with Ford following in second place and Vauxhall in third.

Mercedes-Benz was also first for online sales conversion with Volkswagen following in second place and Audi in third.

There was a 38% increase in the time buyers spent viewing stock on web pages to two minutes and 34 seconds helped by a growing number of images and detailed inspection reports on each car.

Aston Barclay’s digital strategy is supported by the increase in online activity, with the Aston Barclay Buyer’s App generating more than £74 million in vehicle purchases in 2019.