Ackroo announced on Tuesday its launch of Ackroo Anywhere, a platform integrated with CDK Global's dealer management system (DMS) that allows dealers to easily distribute rewards to customers in order to drive key marketing initiatives for their respective dealerships.
With Ackroo Anywhere, dealers who utilize CDK's DMS can issue rewards without relying on customers or staff to swipe or scan their account information following a sale, according to the gift card, loyalty and rewards technology and services provider.
The platform also imports consumer data regarding member vs. non-member spending and lets customers access and manage their gift card and loyalty accounts.
"Direct integration to CDK Global's DMS solution is yet another key advancement to further differentiate Ackroo in the automotive sector. As we continue to expand in this segment advancements like integration to dealer management systems is important,” Ackroo chief executive officer Steve Levely said in a news release.
Ackroo said it delivers its automated solution to dealerships through a SaaS based business model.
“At the end of 2016 we integrated to Authenticom's middleware solution which provides extraction from the majority of DMS's being used however that work did not cover the over 9,500 dealerships in North America that use CDK's platform," Levely said.
"We then made the decision to build a direct relationship with CDK Global to provide this option for all current and prospective Ackroo dealers. That work is now complete and so we are thrilled to be an approved partner of CDK Global and we look forward to expanding our combined solution with them across the automotive industry."
Additionally, Ackroo extends complementary marketing services to assist businesses utilizing the Ackroo Anywhere platform.
As the industry continues to gather for the Auto Remarketing Canada Conference and the Women & Automotive: Canadian Leadership Forum, platinum sponsor TradeRev announced on Tuesday a series of exclusive relationships with some of Canada’s largest dealer groups.
TradRev highlighted the collection includes the Dilawri Group of Companies, AWIN Group, The Humberview Group, Open Road Automotive Group, Weins Canada and The MIERINS Automotive Group.
Officials explained the agreements were signed in partnership with ADESA, a 50-percent stakeholder in TradeRev and business unit of KAR Auction Services. The arrangements make ADESA the exclusive physical auction partner and TradeRev’s mobile app the exclusive online remarketing tool for these large geographically diverse dealerships.
TradeRev chief executive officer and co-founder Mark Endras pointed out the groups represent more than 100 dealerships across Canada and will add tens of thousands of vehicles to the inventory available through TradeRev’s broad network of buyer and seller dealers.
“We’re tremendously proud to have earned the trust and confidence of some of Canada’s largest, most successful and most technologically sophisticated dealer groups,” Endras said. “Today’s news is a big step forward for our company, our mobile app solution and the wholesale used-car industry in Canada.”
TradeRev’s technology is designed to build transparency and convenience into every automotive transaction by placing live, real-time bidding auctions into the palm of dealers’ hands. The company insisted its intuitive, easy-to-use mobile app can provide a fast, efficient and accurate way to obtain true market value for trade-ins and used-vehicle inventory.
With the added volume of vehicles from these agreements, Endras added dealers will have increased access to a broader range of used vehicles that fit their unique dealer profile and business model.
“The ADESA-TradeRev partnership and KAR’s diverse platform of capabilities will provide these progressive dealer groups with a true end-to-end remarketing option,” he said. “This huge value-add is not something that’s typically available at the dealer level.”
ADESA Canada chief client officer Lisa Scott elaborated about the development, saying, “We have strong, longtime partnerships with dealer groups in Canada, and we’re always looking for new, innovative ways to deliver value.
“With our combined services and offerings, we have the ability to streamline the used-vehicle lifecycle and generate better outcomes for dealers,” Scott went on to say.
To learn more about TradeRev’s new Pro and Standard plans go to DealerEndorsed.com.
UCDA Members can now sign up for CARPROOF’s newly introduced used-car appraisal tool — Vehicle Valuation Report — and receive competitive rates following the company’s recent partnership with the not-for-profit organization.
“The partnership is a mutual mandate between both CARPROOF and the UCDA that we help our shared customers operate in a more efficient way with better margins,” CARPROOF vice president of automotive sales Shawn Vording said in a phone interview with Auto Remarketing Canada. “The benefit that our UCDA members are getting is the competitive rates that we offer through the VVR subscription.”
VVR is specifically designed to help dealers sell cars faster by cutting the cost of negotiation and bringing in quality inventory. CARPROOF said it utilizes robust data that combines wholesale and True Retail Sold™ transactions with current listing valuations.
More than 600 dealers have signed up for VVR since it first launched in April, the company said.
“The UCDA is dedicated to helping our Members buy and sell better, and CARPROOF’s VVR tool will be fundamental in advancing that mission,” Warren Barnard, executive director for the UCDA, said in a news release. “We’re excited about adding this value to our member offerings.”
The UCDA has almost 5,000 dealer members across Ontario, according to the organization.
Members include franchise dealers, independent dealers, truck dealers and leasing companies, based in more than 500 municipalities within the province.
This March, dealers across Canada are joining together in asking customers to take a pledge against driving distracted.
Distracted driving is a dangerous and growing trend that is responsible for 4 million vehicle collisions a year in North America, according to data from CAA cited in an LGM Financial Services news release.
The 2017 Auto Dealers Against Distracted Driving Campaign began March 1. Hundreds of dealerships have joined the campaign, now in its third year, and are seeking pledges from their customers, staff and communities.
Anyone wishing to take the pledge can do so here, or by posting it on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #TakeTheWheel.
Linda Leo of West Coast Kia in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, is one of four featured dealers in this year's campaign.
“West Coast Kia has been an active participant in the Distracted Driving campaign since its inception and we look forward to engaging our customers again for a cause that hits close to home in our industry,” said Leo in a news release.
“From my experience, it doesn’t take a lot to make a connection,” she added. “A quick conversation or a little reminder combined with a bit of passion has the potential to make a real impact for the cause in a short amount of time.”
LGM Financial Services began the campaign in 2015 as a way for Canadian dealers to bring attention to a growing issue and educate consumers on solutions to avoid distracted driving.
“While we continue to see hundreds of dealers participate in the campaign year over year, our focus for 2017 is to provoke increased engagement between dealers and their customers through online pledges,” Marc-Andre Lefebvre, vice president of sales for Quebec and campaign lead at LGM, said in a news release.
The campaign is supported by Sovereign General Insurance Company, The Co-operators, Canadian AutoWorld, LoweMartin and Autosphere.ca. Additional information and materials for dealers can be found here.
TRADER Corp. and Dealertrack Canada said Tuesday they have teamed up to launch a transaction communication platform for Canadian car dealers, as part of a partnership to “bridge the gap between the online and in-store consumer experience while enabling the transformation of auto retailing through connected car buying technologies.”
The companies will launch these digital retail technologies on April 1. With this deal, car shoppers will be able to go online to complete tasks that are typically in-store, like personalizing payments, appraising trade-ins, applying for financing and choosing F&I products.
"Today's connected car buyer expects an accelerated shopping experience that is efficient, transparent and seamless,” TRADER vice president of product Edwin Ulak said in a news release.
“They want to save time at the dealership, and they want to take control and design their own shopping experience — across every aspect of the deal,” Ulak said.
The platform that the two companies are launching aims to help dealers streamline transactions and engage with shoppers much earlier and throughout the car-buying process.
As part of the partnership, Dealertrack digital retailing tools can be embedded exclusively into TRADER website tools throughout Canada.
With deeper integration into website and advertising platforms, the aim is to give consumers more seamless and efficient experiences.
“This new digital shopping experience that has been evident in other retail industries is becoming the expectation for consumers in automotive retailing,” Richard Evans, the vice president and general manager at Dealertrack Canada, said in a news release. “We are excited by this partnership that will benefit both consumers and automotive retailers, providing a more efficient process for vehicle purchases in Canada.”
Kijiji announced this week two new partnerships which will add even more value to its dealers and users. The new partners include a photo and video capture service as well as a dealer review add-on provider, resulting in greater transparency for buyers.
Officials said the new agreements — with Car Pics 2.0 and Mobials.com — will deliver Kijiji’s ongoing commitment to provide a safe and trustworthy, high-quality environment to Canadians looking for vehicles online.
“We’re making the Kijiji user experience considerably more effective, by delivering as much of the dealership experience as possible to the online shopper,” said Leanne Kripp, head of autos for Kijiji. “Through these new partnerships, our users will have the clearest possible views and understanding of both the vehicle and dealership they are considering before they even leave home.”
Oakville, Ontario-based Car Pics 2.0 provides its dealer clients with a complete online merchandising suite, which includes high quality image and video solutions for new and used vehicles for sale.
“Captivating media content is a proven business driver for vehicle sales, and under this new partnership, all dealers who are Car Pics 2.0 clients will have those images automatically and seamlessly uploaded to their Kijiji ads,” said Bart Tecza, managing director for Car Pics 2.0.
“Our goal is simple: get buyers excited about the car they’re looking for, because the best decisions in life are the ones we’re excited to make,” Tecza continued.
To fully maximize the new vehicle capture service, Kijiji will also be expanding the number of photos which can be posted in a single vehicle ad to 40, up from 20.
Kijiji explained that helping dealers be more transparent in their advertising by sharing true customer-generated content within the dealer’s add-on was the impetus for a partnership with Mobials.com, creators of Reviewsii. The business review platform generates customer-written and verified dealer reviews, equipping users with deeper knowledge of the dealership and how they operate as a company.
“We are excited to extend the reach of Reviewsii and Google reviews to Kijiji, with early results showing that dealers with reviews have up to a 12-percent increase in lead generation,” said Marty Meadows, president and co-founder of Mobials. “Now Kijiji and dealers have a solution for consumer trust that delivers both Reviewsii and Google reviews from the same platform.”
Kripp closed by saying, “Together, these new partnerships further enhance our users’ experience, increasing their ability to fully explore the vehicle they’re interested in, as well as the dealer with whom they are considering starting a relationship.”
On Wednesday, the Dilawri Group of Companies and OpenRoad Auto Group announced a new joint venture to break ground on a flagship Porsche Centre in the Richmond Auto Mall.
The new dealership is scheduled to be completed in 2019, construction is set to begin in 2018.
“This is an excellent opportunity to provide our customers with greater access to the extraordinary Porsche line,” said Ajay Dilawri, president of the Dilawri Group of Companies. “We are excited to partner with OpenRoad in this new venture. We share core values and we both believe in providing exceptional customer service.”
The multi-million dollar project will be the second Porsche dealership for each company and one of Canada’s largest Porsche dealerships.
In 2015, OpenRoad opened Porsche Centre Langley in the Langley Auto Collection and Dilawri acquired Porsche Centre Vancouver in 2010 and opened the dealership at its current location in 2013.
“Given our success with Porsche Centre Langley and the many brands we already represent in Richmond, we’re confident that there’s tremendous growth potential for Porsche in this new market,” said Christian Chia, president and chief executive officer of OpenRoad Auto Group. “We’re delighted to collaborate with the Dilawri Group to combine our deep commitment to Porsche and our thorough knowledge of the market to bring this exciting project to fruition.”
Dilawri and OpenRoad said the new dealership’s building design will accommodate a wide range of upcoming new Porsche electric vehicles, along with feature Porsche’s infamous curved design, the latest customer amenities, and advanced sales and service technology.
Subaru Canada has partnered with Xtime for a cloud-based scheduling solution aimed at enhancing customers' service experience.
Subaru Service Scheduler includes two of Xtime’s offerings: Scheduler and Two-Way Text Messaging. The first allows customers to select the ideal date and time for their appointment via web, mobile or phone. It also provides dealers with a high-level view of their total shop capacity, allowing them to identify open appointment slots and maximize their service revenue.
Two-Way Text Messaging allows dealers to provide service status updates to their customers at every stage of the repair.
“At Subaru, we believe in adopting the latest technologies to better serve our customers,” said Floyd Jones, senior director, after sales at Subaru Canada. “This partnership will help us deliver an excellent ownership experience, while working toward our long-term vision for the connected car.”
“Our customers love the convenience of scheduling appointments online with Xtime,” said Keith Leung, general manager of Downtown Subaru in Toronto. “Xtime’s Schedule tells customers what their maintenance requirements are, when they can get an appointment, and, most importantly, how much it will cost. I get positive feedback from customers on a daily basis.”
“We are excited to launch this valuable partnership with Subaru Canada,” said Chris Howie, Xtime’s vice president of sales. “Subaru has a forward-thinking, hands-on dealer network, and we look forward to working with them to elevate the ownership experience they provide.”
Subaru dealers can choose to adopt any other products included in Spectrum, Xtime’s fully integrated, cloud-based platform. The Spectrum platform consists of four products: Invite, Schedule, Engage and Inspect (powered by ServicePro).
Including Subaru, Xtime currently partners with 13 manufacturers’ brands in Canada, and has been integrated into more than 1,000 dealerships across the country. To learn more, click here.
RouteOne’s integration with DealerSocket’s CRM is now available in Canada.
This integration, unrolled in the U.S. in 2011, allows dealers to import customer data from DealerSocket into RouteOne for completion of the credit application and contracting process.
“We are passionate about bringing our dealers choice and creating efficiencies in their processes,” said Barry McMillan, president of RouteOne Canada, “and the addition of DealerSocket integration helps us continually deliver on this goal.”
“The existing relationship between DealerSocket and RouteOne has successfully brought our mutual dealers strategic value,” said Sam Rizek, DealerSocket’s sales and business developer for Canada. “We are excited about expanding these benefits to our Canadian dealers.”
First Access Funding Corp., a privately held non-prime automotive finance company based in Edmonton, Alberta, recently partnered with defi SOLUTIONS and Integrated Fintech in an effort as a top executive described “to take their lending program to the next level” with analytics and automation.
FAFC president and chief executive officer David Ballantine has the goal of building the company into one of the leading vehicle finance providers in Canada.
“We chose defi as our loan origination system (LOS) because the platform has tremendous power and flexibility, but to date we have not been taking full advantage of the system’s capabilities,” Ballantine said. “I knew we needed a streamlined credit program backed by strong analytics, and so our partners at defi introduced us to Integrated Fintech to help us develop a customized solution.”
Integrated Fintech was founded by veteran auto finance executives Daniel Parry and Steve Moses. Parry, co-founder of Praxis Finance and Exeter Finance, has 20 years in analytics, credit risk management, and executive strategy. Moses, president of Praxis and former chief financial officer of Exeter, has more than 20 years of experience in finance, capital markets, strategy and growth companies.
“We have worked closely with the founders of defi for nearly two decades. Having been auto finance operators, they were able to design a powerful LOS from the user’s perspective. Much the same way, as experienced lenders, we can bridge the gap between the business needs and analytic technology,” Parry said. “defi is the perfect platform to accomplish that goal, as it puts the command of data and analytics in the hands of the lender.”
First Access Funding provides loans to clients who are not able to obtain financing from traditional finance companies and currently operates through a growing network of dealership partners across western Canada and in Ontario.
“It could take years to build out both the analytic team and technology infrastructure internally, but defi allowed us to have control and understanding of our data through a system where we can implement nearly anything. With the insight of the experienced team at Integrated Fintech, and the capabilities of the defi platform, we are well positioned to accomplish our goals,” Ballantine said.
“defi customers, as well as the rest of the industry, will benefit from this as applied knowledge is power — and the more the better,” he went on to say.
