Trade-in lead application provider eAutoAppraise announced on Tuesday its platform has integrated with Dealer eProcess websites and vehicle details pages, following a partnership between the two this month.
“Our alliance will allow dealers to rest assured their customers are receiving fair and accurate evaluations on their trade-in vehicles with no disconnects in functionality, communication, or reporting between vendors,” said, eAutoAppraise managing partner Barry Brodsky in a news release. “We know this integration will lead to a better overall digital shopping experience that will translate effortlessly into the showroom.”
The platform generates incremental leads with a closing ratio of 25 percent to 30 percent, according to the company.
eAutoAppraise provides dealers with consumer data and interactive reporting.
Additionally, the platform allows online shoppers to search inventory, value their trade, and get pre-approved to purchase a vehicle from any device.
It’s both a trade-in or “sell us your vehicle application” in addition to an inventory and payment-prescreening tool designed for mobile users.
With the application, users can also upload walk-around videos or photos of their trade-in.
"eAutoAppraise is the best-performing trade-in lead generator in the market and it perfectly aligns with our vision of celebrating a vehicle’s delivery versus the start of the buying process," said Joe Gillespie, owner and managing partner of Dealer eProcess.
“This partnership is a no-brainer and their mobile-first capabilities have proven to be truly effective with today’s shoppers.”
Rapid Recon plans to introduce its reconditioning management tool, Group Reporting, at the NADA Convention & Expo in New Orleans next week.
“Group Reporting is critical intelligence for GMs wanting to improve reconditioning operations and achieve a more profitable three-to-five-day reconditioning cycle that increases inventory turns,” Rapid Recon founder and chief executive officer Dennis McGinn said in a news release.
The reconditioning management tool compiles and indexes the monthly performance metrics of an auto group’s individual dealerships and delivers the information in a graphical dashboard format, according to Rapid Recon.
NADA attendees interested in Group Reporting can learn more by visiting Rapid Recon at booth number 5417.
“Groups using Rapid Recon in their stores can know precisely how their recon processes and people are performing against best practices, whether by store or by comparison to all stores and franchises operated by the group,” McGinn said.
On Wednesday, PERQ announced it has integrated its FATWIN platform with AutoHook’s incentive solutions and sales match attribution data.
PERQ said this new partnership increases website conversion for dealer clients.
“We’re thrilled to integrate our FATWIN platform with AutoHook’s powerful incentive engine,” said PERQ co-founder and president Andy Medley in a news release.
“The integration helps us supercharge FATWIN’s already interactive and engaging experience while providing solid lead attribution through AutoHook’s showroom and sales match data — and, most importantly, driving more leads and showroom visitors to our dealer clients.”
The partnership is designed to streamline actionable automotive data and reporting which facilitates lead attribution.
AutoHook’s test drive incentives are now available on the FATWIN platform, at no cost to dealer clients.
This update enhances the conversation between consumers and dealers. In-market buyers are influenced to interact with dealerships through test-drive incentives and customizable offers, according to PERQ.
“PERQ has an impressive reputation among the dealers we were already working with, and we recognize they are creating great conversion tools for dealers and their websites,” said David Metter, president of AutoHook.
“We look forward to a successful partnership and driving unprecedented results for our combined clients.”
On Wednesday, Alliance Inspection Management (AiM) announced that it released AiM Verify, a newly developed proprietary wholesale floor plan system that provides lenders custom vehicle inventory audits for their dealership networks throughout the U.S. and Canada.
“When developing the AiM Verify platform, we looked for ways that we could incorporate new technology to create a scalable model for wholesale vehicle floor plan audits,” AiM chief executive officer and president Jim Yates said in a news release.
AiM Verify provides customers accurate reporting of inventory in real-time.
Lenders are even able to view dealership inventory when an audit is underway.
“By deploying new hardware and software to our auditors, we can provide a significant leap forward over what’s currently available in the market and continue to support the entire wholesale floor plan audit industry as a trusted third-party,” said Yates.
The platform’s dashboards and reports are also easily customizable to suit the individual concerns of each customer.
Field staff at AiM now have Android tablets featuring AiM Verify Mobile.
The company also announced that it has hired Timothy Walker as its vice president of product development.
He is responsible for developing and monetizing the company's technology products and services.
“Tim brings an extensive automotive industry background as well as technology oriented product development experience,” said Yates. “AiM is continually looking for ways that we can better serve our current and prospective clients, and Tim’s experience will prove pivotal in accomplishing our long-term business goals.”
Walker’s experience within the automotive industry spans more than 25 years, his background includes finance, automotive sales operations and product development.
Previously, Walker has worked for brands such as Ford, Autobytel and Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
On Thursday, Peter Karmanos, Jr. of the new tech firm, MadDog and his partner Michael McInerney of McInerney Automotive Group announced the launch of their new online car-buying service.
Deliver My Ride is a digital platform where customers can purchase or lease a new vehicle from anywhere.
“Our site allows a buyer to create a unique vehicle profile, our technology sends the profile to multiple dealers and brands, and returns the best results back to the customer automatically, quickly and transparently,” McInerney said in a news release.
Following all purchases, Deliver My Ride will arrange delivery to customers’ home or office.
The platform matches a customer’s vehicle needs with multiple dealer offers and lets them remain anonymous until the transaction is complete.
“Third party lead generation sites typically instruct consumers to populate a vehicle configurator and sends them to the nearest dealership to negotiate. We take the haggle out of car buying,” said McInerney.
DealersLink chief executive officer Mike Goicoechea announced that the company will introduce two new mobile apps at the NADA Convention next week.
“I grew up in an auto dealership and founded DealersLink with the express intent of creating the most efficient and advanced wholesale marketplace in the nation,” said Goicoechea.
“DealersLink Marketplace and FastBook 5.0 are just the latest tools we’ve developed to help dealers succeed, and we’re excited to introduce them at NADA 2017.”
The DealersLink MarketPlace app brings customized inventory feeds directly to dealers’ mobile devices.
FastBook 5.0 is a booking tool that features a fast VIN scanner along with mobile access to CARFAX and AutoCheck reports.
DealersLink MarketPlace's features include:
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Analytics-driven filters that send real-time available vehicles to the user’s smartphone based on top-performing units from their market and store
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Ability to save or deny vehicles via a simple swipe as they stream in
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Full DealersLink Marketplace vehicle search capabilities
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Seamless connectivity to the DealersLink desktop platform
FastBook 5.0's features include:
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Competition-view retail analytics built in
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Vehicle grade scores show which vehicles are best for the dealer’s market
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Ability to run all book values simultaneously
Both apps are available at the Google Play store and iTunes.
Pearl Technology Holdings announced on Monday that its express retail platform, ShowroomXpress (SRX) has successfully completed in-store pilots for the Garff and Cochran Automotive Groups.
“We decided to take a step back this year and really concentrate on building every element of the retail transaction within SRX,” said Pearl chief executive officer and founder Bruce Thompson in a news release.
“The system calculates lease and purchase payments to the dollar in under 5 seconds including incentives, taxes, trade equity, doc fees, dealer finance profit and aftermarket products. This allows consumers to shop a dealer’s inventory by pre-qualified payments, which is a game changer.”
SRX provides instant two-way communication from a salesperson’s tablet or desktop to the sales tower. All negotiated terms are communicated and displayed allowing a sales manager to make changes instantly.
Experian pre-qualification technology is included on the platform, it allows a customer to get pre-qualified without a hard inquiry or SSN. SRX generates the buy rates of every U.S. auto lender. Dealers can choose lenders they partner with as well.
“The ShowroomXpress platform Pearl has created is a shining example of how to differentiate the customer experience through innovative technology,” said Dennis Patton, vice president and chief operating officer of the #1 Cochran Automotive Group. “We’re beginning to see much faster transaction times due to the sales consultant’s ability to make adjustments without leaving the customer, and can also see how quickly the SRX system delivers accurate payment calculations. We give the Pearl team a lot of credit for listening and delivering this highly anticipated product.”
Auto/Mate Dealership Systems announced on Tuesday that it added two new feature updates to its DMS, Fixed Ops Suite.
The new features are designed to increase auto dealership service departments’ efficiencies and revenue, according to Auto/Mate.
VIN Scan, the company’s mobile tablet update, allows service advisors to scan VIN barcodes with a mobile tablet camera and have the most recent customer data regarding the vehicle to display on the tablet instantly.
“This eliminates the need for manual data entry, greatly expediting the mobile check-in process,” said Auto/Mate in a news release.
Fixed Ops Suite’s second update is a new reverse phone lookup utility offered through Authenticom via a monthly subscription. The update lets service advisors enter the customer's phone number to generate names and addresses associated with that number.
“The VIN scan and reverse phone lookup utilities eliminate manual data entry for the vast majority of new customers, shaving minutes from each new appointment and improving the customer experience,” said the company.
The new features will be demoed at Auto/Mate's booth at the NADA Convention and Expo in New Orleans next week.
automotiveMastermind, a company that implements cloud-based technology, announced on Thursday that Toyota is the ninth brand to join its platform as a partner.
Toyota dealerships throughout the country will now have access to the company’s predictive analytics and marketing automation software that provides sales teams with key insights and valuable information on its top prospects.
“This opens up a new opportunity for us to communicate with millions of existing Toyota customers to improve sales and retention for their brand,” said automotiveMastermind vice president of sales and marketing Andrew Gillman in a press release. “Our behavior prediction technology shows dealers what customers they should be contacting and marketing to in order to increase sales in the fastest, most efficient way.
“We have seen our dealer partners experience significant increases in sales as well as growth in customer retention immediately upon implementing our technology.”
automotiveMastermind analyses DMS data along with more than 1,000 data points from external sources to generate information that is delivered directly to sales team’s desktops.
The company is also currently working with Acura, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Honda, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and MINI.
“Toyota is always on the cutting edge of technology and innovation; designing and building vehicles that consistently exceed expectations. The reveal of the redesigned subcompact crossover SUV, the CH-R, is one example; with Toyota’s focus on a growing and competitive vehicle class, our technology can help dealers identify the rapidly changing consumer behavior toward crossover SUVs,” said automotiveMastermind co-chief executive officer and founder Marco Schnabl.
“We have experienced tremendous success with Toyota’s sister brand, Lexus, just one month after a successful pilot program, we secured about 20 percent of all Lexus dealerships. We are looking forward to providing the Toyota sales teams with relevant insights about their customers, helping transform their existing sales process and ultimately closing more sales.”
Pearl Technology Holdings reported on Wednesday it has recently combined its equity calculator, VehicleXchange with its “buy direct from consumer” platform, Trade In Concierge.
The unification of the two programs allows dealers to search vehicles they wish to buy directly from consumers by year, make, model and trim.
“Buying inventory directly from consumers is the ultimate way to stock a dealer’s lot,” said Pearl chief executive officer and founder Bruce Thompson in a news release. “By integrating elements of two of our subsidiary companies we can create a fabulous automated stream of consumer vehicle sell requests. Dealers tell us what they want to buy and the system does the rest. Not only can dealers stock their lots without paying all the fees associated with auctions; but most of these customers will buy a replacement.”
Pearl’s VehicleXchange equity engine regularly searches for consumers in the service drive, dealer database, or market, who own the vehicles dealer clients desire.
Information procured from the engine is pre-populated into the Trade In Concierge platform which sends vehicle owners an automatic email inquiring about verifying the condition of the vehicle so that a dealer can make an offer.
Dealers can purchase the full suite of VehicleXchange tools and add Trade-In Concierge as well as buy Trade-In Concierge separately, which comes with the new VehicleXchange filter and marketing functions.
VehicleXchange started as service drive equity tool but has developed into a full-service marketing platform.
According to Pearl, the platform performs more than 75,000 Experian pre-screen marketing campaigns per day.
