To think of online retailing in the car dealer world as simply a lead-generation tool for the store may be a bit short-sighted, says Max Steckler, vice president of products at CDK Global.

After all, when customers utilize an online retail platform, they expect that they are starting the actual transaction process and that they won’t have to start all over once they get to the dealership, he said in a phone interview with Auto Remarketing.

Consumers want to “get further down that process” of the transaction online and get their payment down to the penny level, Steckler said, and that’s part of what the company’s CDK Connected Store aims to provide.

The recently launched online car-buying solution allows consumers to complete certain deal structuring steps on the dealer’s website, including selecting a down payment, determining the trade-in value, calculating taxes and fees, and obtaining credit information.

“What makes our solution unique is that it bridges the online experience seamlessly into the store,” Bob Karp, president of automotive retail North America at CDK, said in an April news release on the Connected Store. “The integration with the DMS and our desking solution also helps ensure that the consumer and the dealer have payment information that matches the online quote.”

In that same news release, CDK shared findings from a March survey that illustrate consumer expectations around online deal-structuring:

• Nearly 70 percent of shoppers want to configure a payment on a dealer website
• 83 percent believe online buying technology can help them figure out which vehicle to select and how much they can afford
• 80 percent said they were likely to configure the payment online
• 60 percent said they would set up a payment and share their contact information

“Consumers have clearly indicated that they expect dealers to offer the ability to start the car buying process online,” Karp said. “Interestingly, our research found that among those same consumers, nearly 60 percent felt more comfortable starting this process on a dealer’s website compared to third-party sites. Dealers have a big opportunity to improve trust with this new technology, and to reduce the purchase time.”

In addition to making it a quicker process, CDK aims for its Connected Store solution to have online quotes match in-store desking.

Developing the tool “from F&I out,” Steckler said, fosters greater trust with the consumer because you’re specific about the price.

Broadly speaking, while dealers may have some trepidation in thinking they’re giving up control, Steckler points out that consumers seem to be willing to pay more when they don’t have to negotiate. The point is to reach a middle ground: profitability for the dealership, a good experience for the consumer, he said.