Middle Tennessee residents may have noticed a unique new structure while commuting on Interstate 65: a five-story glass tower filled with used cars.
The building, a fully-automated vending machine for cars, is owned by online auto retailer Carvana and is the first of its kind in the country, although the fast-growing Arizona-based company expects to bring the concept to many more markets.
Tennessean photojournalist Shelley Mays and I experienced the vending machine firsthand Wednesday during a tour of the facility with Carvana’s co-founders, Ernie Garcia and Ryan Keeton.
Will you offer us a hand? Every gift, regardless of size, fuels our future.
Your critical contribution enables us to maintain our independence from shareholders or wealthy owners, allowing us to keep up reporting without bias. It means we can continue to make Jewish Business News available to everyone.
You can support us for as little as $1 via PayPal at office@jewishbusinessnews.com.
Thank you.
What I learned: Carvana is working hard and fast to disrupt the used car industry.
From its user-friendly website that allows customers to buy a used car online in less than 20 minutes, to encouraging customers to share their experience on social media in order to slash marketing costs, Carvana wants the car-buying process to be fun, easy, less costly and transparent.
“I think the inspiration for Carvana — and I wish it were more complicated — but I think what it came down to was there are a lot of people that aren’t very happy with the current way of buying cars, and people are changing their behaviors pretty significantly in buying cars, ” Garcia said.
Carvana’s model allows customers to browse its selection of company-owned used cars online — there are 1, 700 accident-free vehicles in the system — with high-res photos and 360-degree virtual tours. People can zoom in on any imperfections on the car. Once a vehicle is selected, customers can get financing, trade in a vehicle, sign contracts and schedule the car for delivery or pickup. Then there’s a seven-day test drive period.
Similar to online eyewear retailer Warby Parker, which now operates some brick-and-mortar showrooms, Carvana learned that some customers want to see the vehicle in person and pick it up at a designated facility.
Read the full story at The Tennessean, by Lizzy Alfs
