CHICAGO -

Digital and next-generation merchandising company Xcite Automotive has launched a dealer-centered service that it says can streamline the reconditioning and merchandising process of preparing vehicle inventory for sale.

The service is called ReconLogic, and it can help get vehicles “retail-ready” in five days or fewer. Xcite describes that as a much faster turnaround than the 12 to 14 days many dealers experience today.

Two locations are now fully operational, serving Chicago-market dealers.

Xcite says dealers should respond to consumers’ desire to research and buy their cars online as the COVID pandemic drives even greater online vehicle shopping.

Because of that, dealers must provide up-to-date inventory in real time, Xcite said. ReconLogic speeds up that process.

It does so by eliminating the inefficiencies of using several vendors to pick up vehicles, detail them, and have them professionally photographed. The one-source and one-invoice service reduces the time, cost, and hassle of managing multiple vendors, according to the company.

ReconLogic’s seven-step process includes quality control checks to transport vehicles from the dealer’s lot to a ReconLogic Center. There, the vehicle receives a full interior and exterior detail before being transferred into an automated photo studio for an exterior and interior photo shoot.

The shoot includes the interactive 360 Spin, which Xcite says is important in today's competitive automotive marketing climate. Vehicles are ultimately transported back to the dealer lot fully reconditioned and merchandised — in five days or fewer.

To provide the service to dealers, ReconLogic has developed Lotgistics, a proprietary software system that tracks inventory throughout the reconditioning process. That helps more efficiently update dealers on their vehicles’ status.

The company also provides estimates by text when vehicles arrive at the centers needing more extensive wheel repair, paintless dent repair, window tinting, bumper repair, or paint touch-up.

A video shows the entire process from start to finish. 

"In today’s faster-paced and competitive automotive climate, the industry has been charged with decreasing workflows and eliminating bottlenecks that help them more easily and efficiently prepare vehicles for market — both for in-person and online sales,” Xcite Automotive partner and chief executive officer Phil Penton said in a news release.

Penton continued, "We developed ReconLogic to do just that — to help dealers increase their speed to market and reduce costs. ReconLogic understands the impact that the reconditioning process can have on dealers’ financial performance, and we responded to that by creating a one-stop-shop to handle all their reconditioning and merchandising needs in one place. Our focus is on how to help our dealers get their inventory lot ready more quickly without the loss of quality."

Xcite Automotive plans to expand the ReconLogic centers into major U.S. markets in 2021.