One word sums it up for the team at AIM Experts, a new inventory management company that arrived on the scene in 2014: automation.
Rick Balkan, president of the company that features a Web portal designed to simply online inventory listings for dealers, described the offering like this: “We have built a system that is set it and forget it for the dealer, other than taking the pictures.”
And Balkan is no stranger to buying and selling cars. He has been in the car business for 27 years, some of which were spent managing stores within Canada’s Wheaton Automotive Group. Then, Balkan launched a vehicle export company that moved 25,000 vehicles into the U.S. over the course of 10 years. And now, Balkan has turned to inventory management.
Interestingly, AIM Experts was born out of another project of Balkan’s, called newcarselloff.com, which is designed to help dealers promote inventory slow to move off the lot.
Though the site had trouble competing with bigger companies, such as AutoTrader, Balkan said, “One of the dealers using it said although the website wasn’t really working for him, he really liked the tools we had developed for it, especially the ones that helped automate the dealer’s listings.”
This served as the “aha” moment in the company, and the team realized the value was in their software.
Then AIM (advanced inventory management) was born, and since marketing began last October, the company has gained over 200 clients across Canada, as well as one dealer in Montana.
“Our calling card for dealers is to simplify the process of getting inventory online and to make it consistent on all portals that they advertise with,” Balkan said.
Automating the VDP
These days, shoppers are turning more and more to the Web for vehicle research, and making stand-out VDPs is a must for dealerships. But, of course, creating an engaging listing for every vehicle that enters the dealership lot can be time consuming.
Balkan said this is what he had in mind when designing the inventory management platform.
“One of the biggest issues facing dealers is the inability of websites to provide content for dealers and tools for dealers to simplify the process of getting inventory online,” he said. “The client isn’t going to click on a vehicle that’s for retail with a stock photo and no description. They want to get further involved with that listing, and that’s what our platform does; it engages the client when they look at it.”
Here’s how it works. The process involves going into a store’s dealer management system, as well as other third-party sites, and AIM is able to extract, through its partner DMI, the inventory VINs and other relevant data. Then, it is able to start the up-fitting process for inventory.
“Our process involves doing things like photo watermarking, automatically, which is the label on top that identifies the dealership name and the phone number. We do badging icons that indicate key features of the vehicle on the picture. We automatically create comments for every vehicle that are vehicle-specific,” Balkan shared.
AIM Capture, the company’s mobile app available on Android and IOS, is what dealers will use on the lot to add inventory to the system. Dealers can walk up to a vehicle, scan the VIN, and then start taking pictures.
Then, these listings will syndicate anywhere the dealer wants to go, said Balkan, as the company boasts over 40 syndication partners across Canada. The dealer also has the option to take video, or send pictures to the company to create a stich video. These videos are then sent to YouTube as well as the dealership website and any other third-party site that will accommodate the media.
And when the vehicle is loading to the inventory management system, dealers are able to see what similar vehicles are selling for in their marketplace.
Comments & dynamic pricing
The company has created a library full of data to design automated vehicle-specific comments. For example, the 2015 Ford F-150 XLT has a specific data library, and automated comment content can stem from that pool. The company also will include information about that specific unit in the comment, such as the attributes of the vehicle, including options, colors, what the payment is on that vehicle, and rebates.
Both new- and used-vehicle descriptions are automatically rendered. New-vehicle listings include info such as a model overview, payments, trim information, lowest available financing rates and more.
For used vehicles, Balkan said, “There are different questions a used-vehicle shopper might want to ask and things they want to know, such as how many owners there have been, whether it’s a local car, what warranty is remaining and whether there has been an accident.”
To help with some of these questions, if a dealership has run a CarProof report on the used vehicle, AIM Experts has the ability to grab this information and render it into the comment itself.
Dealers also have the option link to the safety inspection of the vehicle within the comment.
“For a lot of used-vehicle buyers, this is a fairly key component of it, and it shows a lot of transparency when the dealer does this,” Balkan said.
One interesting element of these automatic comments is they are dynamic, and content changes when the rebates change or when the payments change. And the dynamic pricing tool is based on days of inventory rules that the dealer sets.
“Dynamic pricing allows a vehicle to gradually discount as it ages, and as a result, make it more appealing to someone who is purely price driven when they are looking online,” said Balkan. “We are also able to create model-specific rules, because not every piece of inventory is going to fit into a dealers rule, including desirable inventory or units that are hard to find.”
When asked about the most important elements of a VDP, Balkan said price is crucial.
“Most people don’t pay cash for a vehicle, and most people don’t know what $50,000 actually costs every month,” he said. “Having that physically on the description on the vehicle I think is another very important feature to convince someone to pick up the phone and pursue the vehicle.”
AIM Experts also “harvests” rebates, Balkan said, an element he said is largely ignored when it comes to VDPs but can really add value and catch the interest of potential shoppers.
“Even though the rebates are available across the board, the average consumer might not understand that. So you have to show your best price right off the bat, even if you’re just showcasing the manufacturer rebates,” said Balkan. “that is still going to get you a leg up on your competition.”
Specials & social media
You know that Specials tab on a dealership website? Hint: it’s probably the only channel on the site with no content.
According to Balkan, this is one of the most underutilized areas in most dealership websites.
“Through research, we determined over 40 percent of shoppers go to the Specials tab, and most dealerships don’t have anything there because it is fairly maintenance-heavy,” Balkan said. “We have created a way we can automatically embed their top 10 oldest used vehicles and their used-vehicle specials, as well as their top 20 discounted new vehicles and their new-vehicle specials. And it’s automatic.”
Another area dealers can utilize to promote their inventory is social media, but many warn against this because vehicle postings showing up on followers’ Facebook feeds every five minutes will often incite annoyance among a dealership’s customer base.
Through AIM Experts, the dealer’s vehicle specials are automatically added to their Facebook pages, but only interested shoppers will be privy to the information.
“What we have done here with this is we have created a tab on the page that when clicked will now show these special deals to their very best customers,” said Balkan.
What’s next?
As for what’s next for the quickly-growing AIM Experts, the company is currently in the process of creating relationships with a few manufacturers.
“They see the value of adding content to their websites, Balkan said.
And in terms of product development, the team is working on an appraisal app that will work in conjunction with the current platform.
AIM Experts is also planning to release what it’s calling “Auto 360,” which will give the consumer a 360-degree view of a vehicle and allow them to focus on “hot spots.”
“It’s just another way to get a better look at a vehicle and engage a client more on that listing,” Balkan said.
One auto tech company aims to make the auction a part of the trade-in process.
Selectbidder officially announced today its new platform for real-time bids on dealer trade-ins, aiming to connect auctions, dealers and dealer customers in a way to streamline the trade-in process.
Currently rolling out its platform to independent auctions across North America, the Selectbidder At-Trade platform has completed its testing phase at the Great Northern Auction in Moncton, New Brunswick, where it has been put to the test since the spring. GNA piloted the program with three dealers in April and moved the application into full deployment with its dealer network in May.
“Since implementing the Selectbidder At-Trade app, we’ve moved more units, had more touchpoints and brought more dealerships into the auction,” said David Wilson, the auction’s general manager.
So how does it work? According to the company, a selling dealer simply scans the VIN on a customer’s trade-in vehicle, takes photos and posts the images along with a quick condition report to the Selectbidder platform via the app or online. Select buying dealers in the auction’s network will then receive a notification, allowing for real-time bidding on the vehicle.
The goal is to help the selling dealer give a more accurate price to the trade-in customer, speeding up the process for everyone involved.
“Everyone wins with the Selectbidder platform,” said Sean Liptay, Selectbidder’s chief executive officer and GNA owner. “Auctions continue to do what they do best – connect buyers and sellers, while dealers know the true value of a trade-in and consumers feel treated fairly. With Selectbidder, auto auctions are able to use their strong, trusted network to offer what the industry now demands: efficiency, effectiveness and transparency.”
According to Kevin Berry, the key to the solution’s success is its auction-centric focus, maintaining the level of familiarity between dealer and auction relationships.
“Many auto wholesaling applications on the market now cut out auctions completely,” Berry said. “This is a mistake, as auto auctions remain the cornerstone of the wholesale process.”
For more information on Selectbidder, check out its site here.
CarProof Corp., makers of vehicle history reports, announced Wednesday the addition of easy to read badges to its reports as an attempt to improve readability and simplify transparency.
The new badges aim to make it easy for car buyers to identify key attributes they may be looking for in a used vehicle, examples being accident free or one-owner vehicles.
“In numerous recent studies, consumers rated previous accident information as mission critical to the used-car research process,” said Ed Woiteshek, CarProof’s president and chief executive officer. “Used-car buyers want information they can digest in a single glance that is easy to understand. With these badges, shoppers can tell right away if the vehicle they’re looking at has the features that matter to them. Our hope is that this will change the way consumers use our reports and search for cars online.”
According to the company, another aim of the badging is to make it as clear as possible to consumers that the dealers who use the history reports value transparency and deserve their trust. The badges began to appear on CarProof’s vehicle history reports on Wednesday, with the future option for opportunities to digitally integrate badges into online vehicle listings at a future date.
For more information about CarProof, visit its site here.
Quorum Information Technologies Inc. announced this week its XSELLERATOR dealer management system will soon be available for Ford and Lincoln dealerships in Canada.
The company has entered into agreements with Ford and its DMS integration technology partner, Oxlo, in an effort to develop a “full suite of Ford integration” and offer XSELLERATOR to Ford and Lincoln dealerships.
"Together with Ford and Oxlo, we have put together a plan to develop all available DMS integration with Ford. Our collective goal is to install XSELLERATOR for our Ford pilot dealers early in 2016, with general release following shortly after," said Dan Ichelson, Quorum's vice president of product and operations.
The company aims to focus on the Canadian market initially, but has plans to serve Ford and Lincoln dealerships in the U.S., as well.
"Initially we will focus on the Canadian market. However, by integrating through Ford's partner, Oxlo, we will be able to fairly quickly thereafter offer our DMS to Ford and Lincoln dealerships in the U.S. as well. We're really excited about the prospect of being able to show the capability of our DMS to Ford dealers and expand our 'footprint' across North America," said Mark Allen, Quorum's VP of sales, marketing and services.
Currently, the North American company also is focused on developing, marketing, implementing and supporting its XSELLERATOR product for GM, Chrysler, Hyundai, KIA, Nissan, Subaru, NAPA and Bumper to Bumper dealerships.
F&I documents, vehicle sales agreements, brochures and more, we all know that dealerships are businesses that rely heavily on printed products. That said, NFTouch, a new product from Burlington, Ontario’s Future Retail Group (FRG) is looking to “take the paper out of dealerships," creating more leads as well as cost-savings benefits.
The company explained NFTouch is a kiosk product that utilizes near-field communication (NFC) to deliver targeted messages to dealership shoppers, designed to convert leads into sales.
The NFTouch kiosk system has the ability to deliver dealer and brand information, provide model brochures and upload coupon specials, as well as allowing shoppers to book test drives, and service and appraisal appointment from their smartphones of tablets.
What’s interesting about this Canadian-made technology is it “works with pull technology rather than push technology,” according to George Dion, the chief executive officer and international account director for the Future Retail Group, meaning the customer has to actually touch the device and choose what information they want to receive, rather than having a plethora of files pushed over to them, regardless of their specific needs.
“NFC uses proximity to other mobile devices or tags to transfer information between them,” explained Dion, who leads the company that has global rights for the product and technology. “In Europe, it’s widely used in retail environments, such as supermarkets that are basically the size of convenience stores, where people go in and touch their phones to tags to purchase milk, for example, and then have it delivered to their homes.”
The 'meeting of the minds'
Dion shared he began his journey in automotive booth design in the 1980s when he began to look into alternatives for auto retailers to get their messages out to consumers.
And a year ago, the exec was approached by Volkswagen Canada to study a way for dealerships to deliver content to visitors in an “unobtrusive and cost-effective” way, as well as work toward doing away with printed brochures completely.
The Future Retail Group then engaged Kitchener’s WestonExpressions that at the time was launching its new Linkett product, which works to connect to ordinary television sets or digital signs and delivers unique content to passers-by. Dion said this “meeting of the minds” led to the development of the kiosk system, NFTouch.
Product details and dealer offerings
Dion shared one of the key features of NFTouch is information dissemination is based on consumer interest.
“NFTouch works with pull technology rather than push technology,” said Dion. “Unlike systems like Apple’s iBeacon, the customer actually touches the device to the display and chooses the content he or she wishes to receive, rather than the system pushing out ‘spam’ to a phone as it gets within that proximity.”
Consumers do not need to download an app to receive the content, and the kiosk systems works to send out information in a schedule designed to optimize the messaging at specific times.
The company has made NFTouch available in a variety of dealer packages. FRG shared the base package for the product includes four “wheel” kiosks (digital stands next to a showroom vehicle) and a showroom Master kiosk (which provides discount coupons, showcases campaigns, monthly features and specials). The Digital Wheel Stand allows the sales manager to instantly change vehicle pricing and offers.
The packages are customized in an effort to suit dealer needs, and the kiosks are leased over a set term, with delivery and installation within 60 days of ordering.
And for shoppers that might not have made it to the dealership within store hours; they can receive information, as well. The company also offers an After-Hours kiosk, which sits just inside the dealership window and works through glass.
“What NFTouch does is it increases Dwell Times and diminishes the opportunity to lose a sale when a customer who may be ready to buy ends up walking out of a dealership because the salespeople may be busy or the customer may not even want to deal with a salesperson,” said Dion.
As for the immediate return on investment, FRG asserts that dealerships could save hundreds of thousands of dollars on printed material. Dealerships may also find the product improves its ability to track showroom traffic, because the technology can track how many mobile devices come within proximity of the kiosk, as well as how many shoppers engage with it — Dion calls these “lookers” and “tappers”, respectively.
This information is uploaded, and digital reports can be generated minute-by-minute in whatever timeframe the dealership wants.
And dealers are already reaping the benefits. The technology was tested at VW Pfaff, Newmarket and is in use at several other dealerships, including Leggat Chevrolet Cadillac Buick GMC in Burlington, Volvo of Oakville and Burlington’s Ducati Dealer, Peninsula Imports.
“We had lot of Ducati Demo Ride test drives booked May 22, 23 and 24, 2015 from our NFTouch Window Kiosk,” said Tony Foderaro, dealer principal at Peninsula Imports, Burlington. "The ability to instantly change our after-hours messaging gave us the advantage to communicate with our window shoppers, getting them to connect to sales. It was powerful.”
Sixty to 70 percent. That’s the varying statistic of visitors on the Canadian Black Book website that say, during its evaluation process, they’re interested in purchasing a vehicle in the next month.
That’s according to the Brad Rome, CBB’s president, while discussing his company’s motivations with Auto Remarketing Canada behind its June 29 launch into the lead-generation business.
“We’ve been looking to do this probably for about the last year,” Rome said. “It’s been more of a strategic decision, to be honest with you, to get into the lead-generation side of things.”
Why is a decision like that good strategy? According to Rome, the lead-generation business in Canada is on fire right now.
“Lead generation is something that’s really come to the forefront, I would say in the last 18 months more than anything, in Canada,” Rome said. “Dealers really seem to be looking for those third-party leads now. So we heard the demand and we said, ‘we’ve got do something about this because we have the perfect website to be able to generate some of those leads.’”
What makes the site perfect for lead-generation purposes? That idea circles back to the statistics, which are a reflection of every visitor who receives a trade-in evaluation from CBB: to get the estimated value of their trade-in, they’ve got to answer a few questions.
What vehicle do they have now? What vehicle are they interested in purchasing next? What time period are they looking at in terms of getting into a new vehicle?
“The key is this is somebody that is way down in the purchase funnel,” Rome said. “We ask people where they’re at, as far as their purchase decision is concerned, and nearly 60 to 70 percent of the people that look up the value of their trade-in are going to be purchasing in the next month.”
Opting into what CBB has coined as the “CBB Trade-In Connection” is not at all mandatory for the customer. If they decide they don’t want to be connected, they don’t have to. It’s simply a tool to connect dealers to customers. They receive their vehicle value regardless of their decision.
The ones who do opt in, however, can be “one heck of a strong lead” according to the company’s president.
“If somebody actually takes the time to fill out this form, to say they want to be connected, they’re definitely somebody who is ready to make that purchase decision,” Rome said.
Although it’s only been out a few weeks, Rome says the response from dealers has been positive.
“So far it’s been very, very good,” Rome said. “Again, it comes down to it’s not for every customer who is out there. But we’re cautiously optimistic that it’s a service that customers are definitely looking for and obviously the dealers, knowing that they’re certainly hungry for leads, will look after those customers.”
Automotive reconditioning company Dent Wizard International has launched a service plan for dealerships that acts as a way for service departments to connect with customers.
The company has taken Ding Shield — already sold in dealership F&I offices — and created a program to target customer loyalty, as well as boost revenue in service drives and body shops.
Ding Shield Drive is an appearance service plan sold through dealership service drives and body shops.
The new product is designed to protect customers’ investments and ramp up customer loyalty, as well.
Dent Wizard explained that Ding Shield Drive covers pre-existing dents — a rare service in the reconditioning market.
“Selling a service plan like this opens up a whole new revenue opportunity for dealer service drives and body shops,” said Aaron Cooper, Dent Wizard’s national director of F&I. “The fact that it covers pre-existing dents makes it much easier to sell than competing service plans.”
Breaking the elements of the new service plan down, Ding Shield Drive’s coverage includes:
- Repairs for up to three pre-existing dings on vehicles up to five years old
- Unlimited paintless dent repair coverage for up to 84 months
- Unlimited number of dents and dings removed over the life of the contract without having to file an auto insurance claim or pay a deductible
- One-day rental coverage
- Additional hail coverage over life of the contract
For specific details of coverage, including calculation of vehicle age, hail/acorn damage, and state exclusions, see www.dentwizard.com.
You might have the right vehicles in stock. And you might be offering the best deals. You might even be in the prime location. But these days, it isn’t enough unless consumers find your business trustworthy — and that starts online.
To address this reality in the digital age of online referrals and reviews, Mobials has partnered with autoTRADER, SiriusXM and AutoCapital to help dealers secure their online reputations.
Mobials announced it is launching a national “Dealership of the Year” award program to honor the country’s top-reviewed dealer, as well as a Consumer Trust Certified program, designed to help shoppers pick out the best dealerships and give dealers another advertising tool in reaching out to potential customers.
Through the Consumer Trust Certified program, dealer consumer ratings and reviews will be posted where dealers syndicate their vehicles.
For dealers not enrolled in the Mobials Reviewsii product, no need to worry. On top of rolling out additional tiers of its Reviewsii product in an effort to fit all dealers’ needs, the company will be offering the basic $85 package at no charge, thanks to the program’s sponsorship by autoTRADER, SiriusXM and AutoCapital.
James Hayes, co-founder and chief executive officer of Mobials, told Auto Remarketing Canada, “In working on these new developments, we wanted to make sure to do our best to create a program that would capture dealer reviews and put them everywhere their shoppers are researching them online. And the Dealer of the Year award will finally give the market a program that honors and recognizes top dealers for impressive consume ratings.”
A New Dealership of the Year Program
For dealers interested in competing for the new award, the competition begins this month and will run until the end of the year.
To qualify for the award come the end of the year, stores will need at least 25 customer reviews, and the star rating for the store — one to five — in the Reviewsii system will impact the dealership’s ultimate score.
And the companies explained the winners will be chosen based on a variety of criteria using an algorithm designed to “level the playing field” between large metro stores and most rural dealerships.
And that’s not all the companies did the ensure fairness.
To make sure that all dealerships, not just the stores that use Mobials products, can enter the running, sponsors — autoTRADER, SiriusXM and AutoCapital — will cover the basic $85 per month Reviewsii plan for 12 months.
Dealers can visit www.mobials.com and register for free with the following promo code: TRADERREVIEWS.
In early 2016, a Dealership of the Year will be announced, as well as top stores on a provincial basis for both franchised and independent dealers.
Consumer Trust Certified Program
The new Consumer Trust Certified program — available in French and English, depending on the website — gives dealers another way to stand out from the pack and advertise their standing to potential new customers.
Once a dealer receives a review, the new program captures it. Then, when dealers go to list vehicles on third-party sites, the dealership’s star rating and the number of reviews will show up below the dealership name in individual vehicle lists.
Shoppers have the option to sort reviews by employee, sales or service, or newest to oldest.
Hayes said, “This new program is an ongoing mission and will help to identify the dealerships most-trusted by consumers through tracking reviews and referrals.
“It also gives dealers an impressive tool to advertise to consumers. As the program gains traction, shoppers will become familiar with what this certification means and the trust factor that comes with it.”
Here is the criteria for qualifying for the new certification banner:
- Qualifying dealerships must use vehicle history reports that conform with provincial regulations.
- They must have received at least 25 reviews over the last 12 months.
- Dealers need to have a minimum of a four-star Reviewsii rating.
The program also requires all qualifying dealers list vehicles on third-party online listing sites with “honesty and integrity.”
Upon certification, each dealership will be sent marketing materials and will be able to run the certification banner on their website.
There are a variety of packages available for the Consumer Trust Certified Program, Hayes shared, which can range from $85 to $1,285. But once again, Mobials is offering the basic $85 package for free thanks to program sponsorship.
Mobials hit the market just a year-and-a-half ago, as a new company looking to change the “dealership review eco-system.” Since then, the company has scored publishing agreements with a variety of the biggest third-party sites vehicle listing sites in the country, including TRADER, Carpages.ca Monsterauto.ca, CanadianBlackBook.com, Auto123.com, AutoandTruck.ca and more.
Dealers can visit www.mobials.com and register for free with the following promo code: TRADERREVIEWS.
CarGurus announced Tuesday its expansion from the United States to its neighbor to the north with the launch of CarGurus Canada.
Founded by Langley Steinert, who is also a co-founder of TripAdvisor, CarGurus now brings the same level of service to Canada as it has been providing to the U.S. as the latter’s second-largest automotive shopping site in terms of daily unique visitors, according to comScore as of last month.
CarGurus uses mathematical models to analyze and compare prices, specifications and dealer ratings on millions of car listings on a daily basis. The site also ranks user search results by the best deals offered by top-rated dealers in former’s designated area.
“Car shoppers want more transparency and efficiency as they research their purchase,” said Steinert, who also serves as the company’s chief executive officer. “We see tremendous opportunity in Canada to deliver on this promise with a model that is unique in the market. As we’ve proven in the U.S., when the car shopping process is transparent, everybody benefits – shoppers and dealers alike.”
The CarGurus Canada site features both new and used vehicle listings available from Canadian dealerships. While only currently available in English, a French version of the product is in development.
Announced during the 2015 Auto Remarketing Canada Conference in Toronto last week, XLane Holdings Inc. will work as a technology provider to power a new Digital Showroom program for FCA Canada Inc.
FCA Canada — the inaugural winner of the Auto Remarketing Canada Tech Titan award — explained this new tool is designed to offer dealers access to “virtual auction inventory,” or OEM program, fleet, daily rental and end-of-lease vehicles available at auction through a dealer’s own website.
“XLane’s Digital Showroom program is all about extending physical auction inventory to online retailing,” Tave Della Porta, chief executive officer of XLane Holdings, told Auto Remarketing Canada.
The Digital Showroom product integrates with the participating dealer’s existing website, enabling the dealership to display the virtual inventory next to their own.
The goal is to work toward building a national program that will be available at any regional auction across Canada.
“We are excited about XLane’s technology and how it can be used to offer our dealers further solutions when it comes to the remarketing and retailing of used vehicles,” said Eric Janca, national vehicle remarketing manager at FCA Canada Inc. “This program was put together to reward our valued dealers with a low cost, minimal risk solution to showcase and sell more used vehicles on their retail websites.”
Under the current program, XLane digitally manages FCA Canada’s vehicle condition reports and images from both participating ADESA or Manheim Canada auction sites. XLane then enables FCA Canada Inc. to virtually allocate vehicle condition reports and images to each dealer’s Digital Showroom, giving each dealer the exclusive right to buy and sell allocated vehicles.
“When a retail consumer is interested in purchasing a Digital Showroom vehicle, the dealer may login to the control panel to purchase the vehicle from the allocated auction site,” Della Porta said. “Depending on the location of the vehicle, the dealer can transact via XLane with either auction provider. This simplifies the purchasing process for the dealer within the program.”
Both Manheim and ADESA executives expressed their support for the new program and FCA Canada Inc.’s move, as well.
Lisa Scott, senior vice president of sales, marketing and Atlantic Operations for ADESA Canada, said, “ADESA has always invested heavily in the online space to facilitate quicker and more efficient transactions. The partnership on FCA Canada's new Digital Showroom offering is a great example of how companies can work together to provide dealers with great opportunities for their business.
“FCA Canada Inc. is passionate about their exceptional vehicle line-up and is clearly committed to enhancing their dealer network's ability to source wholesale inventory and turn that into retail transactions. Supporting their franchise dealers in this way is an indication of a commitment to build and support a very strong brand,” she continued.
And Trevor Enge, senior director of strategy at Cox Automotive Canada, asserted Manheim is committed to investing in tools and resources that make it easier for customers such as FCA Canada Inc. to conduct business.
“This new Digital Showroom product not only gives their dealers greater access to more vehicle inventory, but also provides their customers with more buying options and choices. By providing the infrastructure and support needed for this new and innovative virtual space, FCA Canada Inc. is expanding the retail sales opportunities for their dealers and showing the boundless possibilities that strong partnerships with common goals can create,” Enge explained.
The Logistics of ‘Virtual Inventory’
In XLane’s current closed program, a client such as FCA Canada can allocate vehicles to their dealers for any duration of time.
“Since the program vehicles are inside a closed auction environment, the dealer is guaranteed that the desired vehicle will be available for purchase exclusively to them within the allocated timeframe,” Della Porta explained.
And vehicles available on Digital Showroom are unique per dealer enrolled in the program. In other words, a single vehicle cannot be allocated to multiple dealerships’ Digital Showrooms.
Once a vehicle is allocated, the dealer is notified and can log into their Digital Showroom account to manage their virtual inventory, giving them the ability to add retail pricing and marketing information, the XLane CEO explained.
And since Digital Showroom integrates with dealers’ existing websites, consumers do not have to visit special portals or other external websites.
The program also allows the dealer to display a retail "showroom" version of a pre-sale or no-sale auction vehicle condition report on their website.
“Vehicles that arrive into the XLane system from various vehicle sourcing partners (auctions) may contain data that may not be appropriate for display on a customer's website. The XLane Digital Showroom allows them to ‘override’ standard condition report values as well as add their own content for display on a vehicle profile Web page,” said Della Porta.
For example, the exterior color may be abbreviated; or there may be misspellings in the description.
Dealers may also want to display the OEM values for a vehicle's color. For instance, instead of just “black”, the dealer can show “Brilliant Black Crystal Pearl Coat.”
Using this tool, “Dealers can boost the number of online vehicles they can offer their customers without having to stock and finance the inventory,” said Della Porta. “As a result, this provides the dealership with the opportunity to ‘Sell Before you Buy’.”
The Future for ‘Digital Showroom’
Della Porta also explained the program can be extended to serve other OEMs, fleet, daily rental companies and physical auctions that want to extend their inventory to dealers’ retail websites.
“We are currently building strong industry relationships to empower this program in Canada and the U.S.,” he said.
When asked if the industry can expect more automakers to adopt the program in the near future, Della Porta responded, “Yes, absolutely.”
“It's about bringing efficiency and shorting the chain between wholesale and retail transactions with a direct-to-consumer solution,” he said. “With Digital Showroom, dealers can offer more to their consumers by accessing a virtual back-lot of auction inventory where consumers can access like a vending machine of cars.”
