J.D. Power notes that its new lead-generation tool for dealer websites provides dealers with qualified leads and increases their used-vehicle inventory.
Using the Value My Car tool with the J.D. Power consumer brand, web visitors can learn the value of their vehicle in exchange for their email address, according to the data and analytics company.
J.D. Power launched the tool on Friday.
Here's how it works. Dealers place the tool on their website. Then, when consumers input their vehicle and contact information, they receive an initial value of their vehicle. The tool then encourages the consumer to receive an in-person vehicle appraisal by visiting the dealer.
J.D. Power is offering the dealer-only product for an introductory price of $75 per month. No contract is required.
The new tool “will not only provide a service to a potential customer as a first touch-point but will ensure potential sales opportunities for the dealerships are being tracked,”
“The new tool has two simple objectives: provide dealers with qualified leads and increase their used-car inventory,” J.D. Power vice president of vehicle valuations Jonathan Banks said in a news release.
"This will not only provide a service to a potential customer as a first touch-point but will ensure potential sales opportunities for the dealerships are being tracked.”
More information on the Value My Car trade-in valuation tool is available here.
Ben Flusberg, associate vice president of M LOGIC, says his company has been helping clients make smarter, real-time decisions for a long time.
“But now, M LOGIC combines efforts across Manheim to provide even better solutions that help our wholesale clients take action for faster transactions and greater profitability,” Flusberg said in a news release.
M LOGIC is a suite of decisioning products from Manheim that the company says puts Cox Automotive’s data to work for clients by “adding science to the art of profitable decision-making.”
Flusberg provided a specific example of a client company that he said is “achieving profit lift of tens of millions of dollars by using multiple M LOGIC products – Pricing Optimization and Location Optimization.”
The company notes that M LOGIC includes products in three verticals — valuation, optimization and personalization. Each of those verticals help Manheim’s clients make more informed, data-driven decisions. The “profit lift” potential is $150 to $300 per vehicle for clients that use the full suite optimization products, according to the company.
In the vertical area of valuation, the Manheim Market Report product for wholesale vehicle valuations uses millions of vehicle transactions, along with OEM build data, to value vehicles based on their specific mileage, condition, exterior color and region. MMR’s digital interface is available via desktop, tablet and mobile devices and receives more than 75 million valuation lookups per year from tens of thousands of users, the company stated.
Manheim says it is using M LOGIC’s suite of data sources and analytics capabilities to continuously refine MMR to improve its accuracy and help wholesale clients transact on the right car at the right price.
In the vertical area of optimization, Manheim says it is actually using artificial intelligence while other players talk about it. Manheim says its use of AI is “powered by vast amounts of its own data” along with data from other Cox Automotive brands.
Manheim notes that pricing optimization uses VIN-specific vehicle and market attributes to set accurate auction floor prices. The company adds that pricing optimization increases price retention and conversion, and that lifts client profits by $50 to $200 per vehicle.
The M LOGIC data that makes pricing optimization happen includes 10 million wholesale transactions, 30 million retail transactions, 48 million vehicle descriptions from manufacturer build data and information from 101 million individual vehicle options and packages, according to Manheim. Manheim expects to use AI to price more than 600,000 client vehicles across its digital and physical marketplaces this year. The number of vehicles priced has grown by more than 100 percent each year over the past few years. The use of pricing optimization to price this number of vehicles could achieve between $30 million and $120 million in client profit lift.
In the area of location optimization, Manheim notes that by optimizing the distribution of vehicles from grounding dealer sites, marshaling yards, and rental airport locations to physical auctions, M LOGIC’s Location Optimization increases client profit net of transportation- and depreciation-related costs.
It also balances wholesale inventory with local supply-demand, directing client cars to where the right buyers are. Manheim currently partners with several clients in the area of location optimization, and the company says it optimizes the distribution of about 200,000 client vehicles annually.
On average, location optimization helps clients gain an additional $50 in profit per vehicle, according to the company.
Recon optimization recommends VIN-specific vehicle repairs to approve and it increases clients’ price retention and improves their return on reconditioning spend. The company notes that typical profit lift for recon optimization clients is $50 to $100 per vehicle.
M LOGIC uses 32 million condition report line items across 5 million wholesale transactions to power this technology.
Throughout 2018, Manheim piloted recon optimization with several clients and optimized recon spend on nearly 30,000 vehicles across dozens of locations. The company notes that recon optimization will become available to additional clients within Manheim’s Seller Dashboard in late 2019.
In the area of personalization, and personalized vehicle recommendations, the product uses machine learning to match Manheim inventory to the right buyers. It helps dealers find and purchase the right vehicles more quickly and easily, the company stated, adding that to accomplish this, M LOGIC utilizes data from 10 million historical bid/buy transactions to identify dealer preferences around channel, location and vehicle attributes given current market conditions.
The recommendations engine uses approximately 200,000 vehicles listed within Manheim’s marketplace on any given day against these dealer preferences, generating 2.5 million ranked buyer-vehicle matches daily. Throughout 2019, dealers will automatically start seeing their personalized vehicle recommendations when they log on to Manheim.com.
In 2019 and beyond, M LOGIC will incorporate Forecast MMR, along with products that optimize client de-fleeting and pull-ahead decisions, into its suite of decisioning products. These products’ broad applications will take place within the traditional wholesale marketplace and across the newer mobility and vehicle subscription service spaces.
Automotive merchandising software company SpinCar has launched a new tool that it says could help dealers and OEMs increase gross margins by showcasing the key features and options included on their vehicles.
One dealer said the tool “…will enable us to develop even stronger emotional connections with consumers before they ever set foot in our physical showrooms.”
SpinCar explained the new tool — Feature Tour — replaces static vehicle detail page feature lists with customizable multimedia experiences based on a consumer’s self-identified interests.
Because the product highlights the most relevant features and options of a particular vehicle, dealers can help shoppers understand the inherent value of that vehicle, according to SpinCar. The company added that by using the tool, consumers can make more accurate product comparisons and can provide “tangible justification” for a dealer’s published price.
Feature Tour content is currently available for more than 450 features across 18 OEMs.
Why did SpinCar launch the tool? The company indicated that complex features and capabilities of today’s vehicles can be difficult to explain. Especially in a mobile-first world, long lists and descriptions included on traditional VDPs do not inform and educate online shoppers well, SpinCar added.
Because of that situation, many consumers must leave a dealer’s website to conduct additional research, and other consumers use price rather than features in their decision-making when comparing vehicles from different retailers. That has contributed to lower dealer gross margins, according to the company.
To address those challenges, Spin Car highlighted Feature Tour can bring curated videos, images and explainer content directly to consumers while they explore the vehicles on a dealer’s website.
By showcasing the unique features of a vehicle that are most relevant to each shopper, SpinCar’s proprietary multimedia personalization engine can educate consumers.
“While OEMs continue to enhance vehicles with a broad assortment of sophisticated, technology-enabled features, dealers are finding it harder and harder to communicate the value of these new capabilities to online car shoppers,” SpinCar co-founder and chief executive officer Devin Daly said in a news release.
“Feature Tour provides auto retailers with a fundamentally new way to tell the unique story of each vehicle in their inventory," Daly continued. "It’s yet another way that SpinCar is helping dealers harness the power of digital merchandising technology to deliver a better experience while maximizing the value of every shopper visit.”
Dealers can use SpinCar’s cloud-based software platform and database of OEM-endorsed content to automatically add a Feature Tour to any vehicle detail page. Then, online shoppers visiting those VDPs can access a guided, virtual walk-through of the vehicle’s key features and options.
Users can customize their Feature Tour based on self-identified areas of interest such as safety, performance, technology or convenience. Or, users can review all of a vehicle’s key features.
Feature Tour then can capture information regarding the shopper’s preferences and interests and suggests other vehicles with similar features. The system also can facilitate more personalized follow-up communication from the dealer.
“SpinCar’s digital merchandising platform has already made a measurable impact on our business by bringing shoppers to our website and keeping those shoppers engaged longer,” AutoTrust USA dealer principal Gary Pretzfeld said in a news release.
Shoppers who are more knowledgeable of the specifics of each vehicle will be able to make faster and more confident buying decisions, he added.
A new version of a lead generation system improves dealer autonomy in operating the system, and it provides new collaboration with various lead sourcing tools.
Reynolds and Reynolds vice president of product planning Jon Strawsburg said in a news release that the company's new version of XtreamService gives dealers the power to manage XtreamService campaigns hands-on and create campaigns, analyze reporting, and adjust parameters themselves.
XtreamService generates what the company describes as highly qualified leads through an advanced predictive analytics engine using consumer behaviors, equity analysis and demographic data.
The software behind XtreamService uses statistical modeling, machine learning and artificial intelligence to anticipate buyer behavior, according to the company, which added that the product delivers accurate sales recommendations for dealerships.
“Xtream has been delivering results for dealerships for over a decade, typically as a managed service that delivers lead information to dealerships daily,” Strawsburg said. “As automotive retailing becomes more sophisticated, we want to offer dealers the option to tailor and manage XtreamService within their dealership to best complement their operations and business goals.”
The lead-generation software works as one with Reynolds Contact Management, a web-based customer relationship management system, and DigiSales, the mobile application from Reynolds for Contact Management that enables sales staff access to information such as customer data and vehicle inventory.
“Thanks to the complete collaboration with Contact Management and DigiSales, Xtream can distribute leads directly to specific salespeople and then also alert them to the new lead, create specific lead follow-up schedules, provide access to a mobile lead sheet, and more,” Strawsburg said. “For a service focused on generating qualified, actionable leads for dealers, this expansion of those leads represents a significant upgrade, and one that answers a dealership need, as automotive retailing continues to evolve.”
A partnership between a phone call tracking company and a dealership customer relationship management system could help auto dealers who “understand how critical it is to connect with customers in a personalized, relevant way.”
Car Wars and VinSolutions say their improved integration brings enhanced lead management capabilities to dealers that use VinSolutions Connect CRM and Car Wars.
The Car Wars dealership call-tracking software automatically attaches a recording of every outbound sales call to an existing customer record in Connect CRM.
The Car Wars tool attaches call recordings to Connect CRM customer records. It also generates and attaches written call recaps. Because that streamlines workflow, according to the companies, dealership staff does not have to listen to every call to personalize customer interactions.
That automation helps to streamline productivity for BDC agents, salespeople and management teams, according to the companies. It provides lead management capabilities in VinSolutions’ platform.
Connect CRM is the main day-to-day activity hub for many dealership staff, and the new integration provides pre-authenticated, direct access to Car Wars reporting and insights.
The companies add that a streamlined click-to-call workflow will make tracking every outbound call between the systems easier. That allows sales agents to work out of customer records in Connect CRM with a holistic view of each customer’s interactions and call history. When salespeople have such a complete understanding of a customer’s interactions with a dealership, the salespeople can improve the customer’s experience, according to the companies.
Lori Wittman, general manager of VinSolutions and senior vice president of dealer software solutions at Cox Automotive, emphasized in a news release the importance of a personalized connection between dealers and customers. VinSolutions is a Cox Automotive brand.
“This integration enhances Connect CRM users’ ability to provide the personalized car-shopping experience their customers want,” Wittman said. “This collaboration between Car Wars and VinSolutions will help dealers achieve their dual goals of better connecting with customers and improving efficiency and productivity.”
“This has been a long time coming,” said Car Wars partner and executive vice president of business development Cassie Broemmer. “We’re excited to begin rolling out the new integration to our mutual clients. As the phone is the No. 1 conversion channel for dealers, we understand partnership with leading CRM providers like VinSolutions is crucial to success.”
VinSolutions will also implement Car Wars’ new communication dashboard, Call Box, at its contact center. With the new system, users will be able to click directly into a customer record in VinSolutions Connect CRM while on a live call, and they can use “click-to-call.” The companies say Call Box allows real-time insight into calls before and as they’re happening.
HyreCar has launched a new application that it says will allow drivers to more easily verify their identity when digitally applying to rent a car through HyreCar’s new mobile interface.
HyreCar, which describes itself as "the carsharing marketplace for ridesharing," has launched the HyreCar mobile application for Apple iOS and Android devices to streamline the new driver onboarding and verification process.
The company developed the application with identity verification technology company Mitek. The technology, which the company says is proven to reduce fraud, can expedite the booking and verification process by 30 percent and lower ID document forgery in the verification process by up to 20 percent.
Partly because of these technology enhancements, HyreCar says it has scaled annual rental days from under 400,000 for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2018 to an annualized run rate of more than 550,000 rental days through the first two months of 2019.
HyreCar chief executive officer Joe Furnari said in a news release that reducing friction in the company’s customer conversion channels is expected to “accelerate revenue to the top and bottom lines.” He added the company expects risk reduction through the Mitek integration to reduce overhead costs.
Mitek chief executive officer Max Carnecchia added that his company wants to provide trust and convenience with each digital transaction and that Mitek seeks to support HyreCar in its mission to “safely, securely and seamlessly onboard more rideshare drivers.”
“Empowering a good user experience while verifying new driver identities is the core focus of our partnership with HyreCar,” Carnecchia said.
SaleSleeve is a sales document holder that the company says is designed to provide high visibility when displaying sales documents on the inside or outside of a vehicle. Wheels Automotive Dealer Supplies has added SaleSleeve’s patented products to its newest online catalog, which will be available in early April.
SaleSleeve’s IPX7 waterproof rating helps further protect sales documents on automotive lots.
The product is a protective envelope that encloses a one- or two-page document and protects that document from possible problems such as weather damage, airflow from vehicle movement and friction from lowering and raising a vehicle’s window.
Field testing shows that SaleSleeve works in all types of weather conditions, including temperatures ranging from minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit to 185 degrees Fahrenheit. It is also built to protect against the harsh elements of even the strongest hurricanes.
Dealers can easily peel away the translucent SaleSleeve holders from glass when removal is necessary, and the holders leave no adhesive residue, according to the company. SaleSleeve states that it helps dealers become and stay compliant by streamlining the process for displaying sales documents in a highly visible application.
“WheelsAuto carefully evaluates the quality and value of every product we offer to auto dealers. We’re pleased to announce that SaleSleeve met our standards and is now included in our newest catalog,” Wheels Automotive vice president, corporate division Renee Perri said in a news release.
SaleSleeve logistics manager Benjamin Brown said in a news release that including SaleSleeve in the Wheels Automotive Dealer Supplies catalog means thousands of franchised, independent and buy-here/pay-here dealers will become aware of the product.
“Dealerships are discovering that SaleSleeve is durable, inexpensive and a remarkably versatile solution for displaying a vehicle’s sales documents,” Brown said.
Reviver has been gaining attention with its creation of the Rplate, which it describes as the world’s first digital license plate platform. The company says Rplate transforms the 125-year-old stamped metal license plate into what it describes as “a sleek, digital, high-definition display.”
The company recently announced a strategic partnership with Harman, a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics that focuses on connected technologies for automotive, consumer and enterprise markets. The partnership will advance domestic and global software development for the Rplate, including a safety and security platform.
Reviver also announced that it has entered a joint design and manufacturing agreement for the Rplate with Wistron NeWeb, a designer and developer of communication products.
Wistron NeWeb executive vice president and general manager Larry Lee said in a news release that his company will work with Reviver to further develop the Rplate in areas such as smart cities, autonomous vehicles, connected vehicles and global expansion.
“(Wistron NeWeb) not only (has) the breadth, knowledge and expertise to scale volume as our footprint grows, they also have an innovation track record right in the heart of IoT and wireless, with a deep R&D and management infrastructure that will provide deep synergies and support as we expand the Rplate platform’s capabilities, as well as a nimbleness to enable rapid evolution,” Sean MacNeil, president and chief operating officer for Reviver, said in a news release.
Reviver and Harman made the joint announcement at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where the Rplate is showcased and demonstrated.
The new safety and security software that Harman Connected Services is developing for the Rplate app will enable various security features such as stolen vehicle and detached plate information, early theft warnings, real-time vehicle tampering/side swipe alerts, stolen vehicle recovery, crash detection, speeding alerts, and car location.
“Safety and security is a critical part of Rplate’s mission to improve daily life for consumers and businesses,” Reviver co-founder and chief executive officer Neville Boston said in a news release. “Having the industry’s best software development partner on board, will help us move forward this mission.” Boston added that Harman’s global reach will help Rplate continue expanding into international markets.
The Rplate is currently available in California and Arizona, with plans for expansion to additional states and countries in 2019. The Rplate can automate vehicle renewals, replacing stickers with digital decals, and add personalization to the license plate, in areas such as promoting charitable causes or a favorite sports team.
Other features include geofencing capabilities and measuring vehicle miles traveled for business. The company plans additional features such as Amber and weather alerts and automated parking and tolling.
In 2018, Manheim’s Digital Marketplace helped make more than 2 million vehicle sales to digital buyers.
Now, as part of Manheim’s $100 million investment in expansions to its Digital Marketplace through 2019, the company is offering a new service that teams dealers up with what it calls “a dedicated expert” to help them sell vehicles through the digital wholesale marketplace.
The new service is called Manheim Express Concierge, which allows dealers to list their vehicles with the digital tools and turn inventory quickly while maximizing profits, all from their dealership lots, according to the company. As part of Manheim Express Concierge, specialists offer end-to-end service, including performing the legwork on listing vehicles and consulting with clients on their wholesale strategies. All of that work saves time for the dealer, according to the company.
U.S. dealers participating in the program will now have the optional benefit of a Manheim Express specialist visiting their dealership to capture inventory they want to wholesale. The specialist will use the Manheim Express mobile app to record details such as VINs, extensive vehicle condition and photos using 360-degree imaging technology. The specialist, working with the dealer, finalizes listings with additional disclosures or announcements and recommends pricing and channel options based on each client’s goals.
“We know the digital marketplace can offer tremendous benefits for dealers to more efficiently run their businesses, but we also know dealers are already strapped for time,” Manheim vice president of offsite solutions Derek Hansen said in a news release. “Our specialists literally meet dealers where they are and offer expert assistance on dealers’ overall wholesale strategies, from listings to financing and, when needed, transportation. It’s all part of the full-service consultation our experts are uniquely equipped to provide our clients.”
The company launched Manheim Express Concierge in select markets last fall and nationally in the first quarter of 2019. Now with coverage from coast to coast in all major markets across the U.S., the service requires no upfront cost by dealers.
Manheim also launched a Seller Desktop experience, which it says is designed to help dealers make faster, smarter decisions about their inventory. The enhancements provide a snapshot to sellers of overall inventory and offerings. They are grouped by key statuses and actions to help move the decision and next steps more quickly. A Manheim Express “mini-dashboard” with a quick list of inventory and actions will also be on the seller dashboard inventory homepage and search results pages.
Making sure they buy the right used-vehicle inventory at the right price is just one issue that auto dealers face. They must also make sure that price brings them optimal profit and turn rate.
J.D. Power and technology company CarStory had those dealer concerns in mind when they developed an app that they say provides insight on used-vehicle market prices and inventory decisions.
To get the NADA values of wholesale, trade-in, retail and loan autos, dealers can now use J.D. Power’s MarketValues application by scanning a VIN or by inputting year, make and model details. To provide vehicle history report information, the app also allows for AutoCheck or CARFAX account integration.
To help a dealer determine how much a vehicle will sell for and when, the app integrates CarStory’s machine learning techniques and current market data. Supply levels, shopper demand, competitive vehicles and dealership performance are among the market factors the app considers to predict how a potential acquisition fits into the market and how it will sell.
“This app was created to provide dealers with a comprehensive tool to quickly see very accurate vehicle valuations, history and features while also providing market and competitive insight to ensure they have all pertinent information in one convenient place,” J.D. Power vice president of vehicle valuations Jonathan Banks said in a news release. “With the help from CarStory, MarketValues gives the dealer the power to make better buying decisions.”
CarStory chief executive officer John Price said in a news release that dealer margins are under great pressure as interest rates rise. Dealers must know how fast a car will sell and when, he added. CarStory notes that more than 16,000 dealers use its services, which combine artificial intelligence and a database of inventory and shopper insights to help dealers sell more cars at a higher profit.
