CARY, N.C. -

In addition to efficiency gains, Grappone Automotive Group's Mark Brown says Roadster's Express trade tool has brought its stores increase opportunity for customer loyalty.

“They really appreciate the fact that we give them a firm offer that is competitive and relevant to the third-party resources that are out there in the world and are accurate,” Brown, the group’s director of sales and marketing, said in a phone interview with Auto Remarketing early this month.

The Express trade tool solution enables transparent car buying all online through dealership websites and in-store applications.

“We know that in the industry, there’s a lack of transparency and integrity at most dealerships with how trades value come to be so we chose to bring the Roadster tool to our in-store process and let the consumer actually drive that process them self,” added Brown.

In addition to a lease quote, shoppers can become aware of the payments on the vehicle, the cash price in minutes.

“It's fully transactional, so you can literally buy a car at 2 a.m. in the morning in your PJs,” says Roadster chief executive officer Andy Moss.

For trade-ins, the shopper provides details on trim, engine, transmission or any other additional information about the vehicle such as the lease buyout amount, if leased.

When a customer accepts an offer via the platform they can either deduct the amount on the trade from the purchase price of the car, apply a portion of that trade-in to the purchase or receive a check.

It’s like Apple

The solution also provides the same technology in-store to the frontline salespeople and other departments.

Moss said dealers get added efficiency when on the sales floor with the solution too.

It frees time up to work with other customers, whereas before they may have had to spend a few hours creating a deal with one buyer, he explained.

The solution’s technology not only simplifies the sales process and experience for customers, but also for dealership staff, as well.

“We’re providing a tool where it's much more like an Apple store where the process is they’re walking the customer through,” Moss said.

When asked what retailers they would make car dealerships like, millennials listed companies Amazon (37 percent), Apple (23 percent) and Starbucks (11 percent) as their top three in a survey by Roadster. In a related statistic, 54 percent of the same group told Roadster that if car dealerships used more modern technology, they would be more likely to consider a job there.

“Dealers are using this not just with online shoppers, but also using it with people that are making phone calls into their Internet departments, and they’re sharing details of cars directly with them,” Moss said.

With walk-ins, the solution can help arriving shoppers via kiosks and tablet devices.

“The salesperson can effectively sit with the customer and do the same thing the customer could do at home,” Moss explained.

When it comes to sales efficiency, he said being able to put all the information a customer needs right in front of them saves time.

From a consumer standpoint, when building their car, car buyers can see a calculation of their monthly payments, trade details and available rebates, all in real-time.

A dealership’s inventory, pricing, incentives and finance plans can be accessed via a tablet device.

And that is certainly a departure from the past. 

“If you think about a traditional sales model at a dealership, it could be a lot of back and forth between the salesperson and the desk or the F&I office,” Moss said.