SAN ANTONIO -

On Wednesday, DealerSocket wrapped up its annual User Summit, which included the opening keynote by founder and chief executive officer Jonathan Ord, who addressed attendees and provided insight into the company's future vision, the introduction of the “Blackbird” technology platform and several other product innovations.

“Blackbird is the result of DealerSocket’s vision, several years in the making, to create a streamlined automotive platform tailored to the future of automotive retail,” Ord said. “It has been built for power and ease of use, incorporating dealership feedback.

“The release of this completely rebuilt platform has been highly anticipated and User Summit is the perfect forum to make its introduction,” Ord continued during the gathering in San Antonio that featured more than 1,000 dealers and complementary service providers.

DealerSocket reiterated that Blackbird was developed and refined through intensive user engagement, including charting eye paths and mouse-based movements to refine the platform. The Blackbird platform is user-optimized, resulting in a customized portal with fewer clicks and simplified navigation. These innovations have led to improved operational efficiencies and a refined user experience.

Dealership Action Report released

The second annual Dealership Action Report (DAR) also debuted at User Summit. DealerSocket developed the DAR utilizing its proprietary data as well as calling upon Google and J.D. Power for additional consumer insight.

Incorporating data from Google Consumer Surveys, DealerSocket insisted this year's DAR is the first to compare data representing 11,000 dealerships to insights from 2,000 consumers who purchased a vehicle in the last 12 months.

The report also references customer satisfaction information from J.D. Power's Power Information Network to provide complete analysis of the consumer vehicle buying process.

Through the DAR, DealerSocket highlighted franchised dealers can develop methods to reform the buying process and improve long-term profitability by learning:

—Consumer preferences for the vehicle buying process

—Best practices in integrating mobile technologies and optimizing online presence

—Opportunities to improve customer experience and build fixed ops loyalty

“This year’s DAR provides a dual view, from the dealer and consumer perspective, of the vehicle buying process. Surprisingly, we found significant gaps in what dealers perceive to be the optimum experience and what consumers expect," said Marylou Hastert, director of product marketing at DealerSocket.

“As the industry cools after a year of record sales, it’s critical that dealerships focus on high-impact, data-driven processes to improve their margins,” Hastert added.

The Dealership Action Report is available for download at dealersocket.com/DAR.

Other User Summit highlights

In addition to Blackbird and the DAR, DealerSocket unveiled its new iDMS platform, which merges its FEXDMS and AutoStar products into a single comprehensive dealership management solution for the independent market. It is the first of all DealerSocket products to be integrated into the all-new Blackbird platform, maintaining a consistent user experience across the system.

User Summit attendees also took part in professional development tracks specially developed for advancement in the following topics:

—Customer relationship management (CRM)

—Digital marketing

—Inventory management

—Dealership management system (DMS)

—Fixed ops

—Customer experience