Digital RetailingReviews

Digital Retailing
Digital Motors Enables Dealers to Deliver Apple-Like Experience

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Retailing has changed radically in the past decade, and it has changed even more radically in the past 12 months. Lockdowns, business restrictions, and fear of disease have conspired to keep the vast majority at home and isolated others far more than they want to be. This has had a profound effect on the way consumers purchase products. Online sellers have seen their sales and market shares skyrocket, while those who rely on in-store foot traffic have seen sales tumble and, in some cases, have been forced to close up shop forever. When one looks at various types of retailers, one can make the case that car dealers, in general, have been among the slowest to change the way they do business, even as the world around them has changed. Taking the attitude if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it and safely ensconced behind state franchise laws and licensing regulations, many dealers still operate their businesses in much the same way they did in 1960, 1980, and 2000. Generate foot traffic with advertising, convert a good percentage of those walk-ins into car-buyers, get a piece of the auto financing pie, and sell them some add-ons before they drive off the lot. Retaining a high percentage of those buyers as service customers sweetens the pot. Retailing Has Changed That said, it is no secret that today's retailing environment is far different from the environment in 1960 or even in 2000. Consumers have grown to appreciate the convenience and time-savings afforded by the ability to purchase goods online and receive fast delivery conveniently on their doorsteps. Wide choice, product reviews, comparison tools, and price transparency all contribute to consumers' switch to buying on the Internet. Add to that a dread disease and governmental business restrictions and you have a retailing paradigm shift of mammoth proportions. While many progressive new- and used-car dealers were in the process of investigating and, in some cases instituting online selling processes prior to the onset of the pandemic, once forced business closures hit, that relative trickle of activity became a torrent. Dealers have scrambled to enable themselves to continue to do business in the extremely challenging environment we have seen in the past 12 months, often turning to vendors to help them gain those new and to some extent, very alien capabilities. What is Digital Motors?  One company that has stepped into that breach is Digital Motors , essentially an online sales platform that gives any retailer of a traditional brand the ability to sell a car "just like Tesla" with an end-to-end online process. "I guess the sad reality is the only way to buy a new car that way today is if it's a Tesla," Digital Motors CEO Andreas Hinrichs told us. "So Digital Motors set out to change it. And I guess we're in the right place at the right time with the right product." Southern California-based Digital Motors was founded well before COVID-19. But Hinrichs admits that the rise of the dread disease accelerated the company's development and launch timeline. "COVID certainly is a significant accelerant to Digital Motors, but it's not the root cause," Hinrichs said. "You know, all the industries outside of automotive have gone to fully transactional over the past 20 years, and auto is the only one that's stuck in lead gen [lead generation]. And that's something we set out to change. And after a year and a half of development, we launched the platform early last year when the shutdown first hit." The change in the timeline wasn't radical, because Digital Motors had planned a summer 2020 launch. But in light of the shutdown, the startup suddenly had dealers knocking on its Internet doors seeking help.  "So we launched the platform a full three months early," he said. "And, right out of the gate, customers embraced this new process and the platform started selling cars, even at the depths of the first shutdown that happened in the spring." Because a car transaction is much more complicated than buying a pair of shoes online, developing the platform required dealing with all the complexities and idiosyncrasies of a typical auto purchase transaction that has multiple aspects, including the vehicle itself plus financing, trade-in, and after-sale additions. The typical car sale also involves state and local taxes and fees that often are very substantial. Beyond that, the auto industry's two-tier distribution model means an online retailing solution must in some ways serve two masters, representing both the vehicle brand and the dealer brand.  Plug and Play Digital Motors has assembled a process that enables it to create plug-and-play online stores that are a natural extension of the dealer's physical showroom. The customer is able to identify a vehicle of interest from a dealer inventory based on certain search criteria. Then they can structure lease or finance payments, value their trade-in, select finance and insurance products, and get instantly approved by one or multiple lenders subject to the dealer's preference. Buyers can schedule their delivery online as well. So end to end, Hinrichs claims, it takes about 15 minutes in contrast to a process that traditionally takes three to five hours at the dealership. While that might seem too good to be true, the speed of transaction is facilitated by the fact that in the typical Digital Motors transaction there's no negotiation. In pricing individual vehicles for sale, the dealer is encouraged to put a "solid foot forward." According to Hinrichs, that doesn't mean a race to the bottom or rock-bottom pricing, but a price that the typical shopper would find fair and compelling.  Of course, that is not the end of the transaction. From there, the Digital Motors platform layers on the different marketing campaigns, incentive programs, and lending programs to get the customer to the "transactable" deal. The driving force of the platform is a highly complex, intelligent FinTech engine. It has dealer-adjustable "guardrails," so customers can only put together sensible deals. But at the same time, the dealer is in full control of the economics of the process, just as they are in their physical showroom.  "One of the biggest misconceptions out there is that the more control you give to the customer, this is actually bad for business," Hinrichs said. "What we see on a daily basis is the more control you give to the customer over the transaction, the higher your profit margin is and the happier the customer is at the same time. So the dealer walks away with a better margin, the customer feels fully empowered and is in control of the process. Everybody saves time. And there's virtually zero buyer's remorse afterward." Apple-Inspired Retail Process Digital Motors execs say they're attempting to emulate a very familiar retail experience -- Apple. At retail, Apple is completely "channel agnostic." It doesn't matter if the customer puts the entire deal together in the online store or if the customer puts parts of the deal together online, or if everything is done at the Apple retail store. The same philosophy holds true with the plug-and-play experiences Digital Motors creates for its dealer clients.  Digital Motors recognizes that the consumer might not desire a complete end-to-end online transaction with no in-store contact or ability to see, feel, smell and drive the merchandise. It also recognizes that consumers might not want to complete the transaction in one online session, so it allows them to "park" the deal online and then resume on their timeline. The customer can start a deal online, get comfortable with the payment scenario, and then seamlessly finish the transaction at the dealership. Or the customer can start the transaction at the dealership and finish it at home if they like.  "Ultimately, this gives retailers a huge boost in efficiency and customers a lot of empowerment," Hinrichs said. "But Digital Motors is not the consumer-facing brand here. We're the technology platform that enables this experience. We consider our clients' online stores their stores that they own and operate with pricing as they see fit." Dealer Branding Digital Motors considers its platform's dealer-branding abilities to be one of its key strengths against other competitors vying for the same dealer-customers. They describe their platform as "hyper-configurable." "We actually can create something that looks like a custom online store for a particular dealership or dealer group in about 24 hours without writing a single line of code," Hinrichs told us. "And we're able to emulate any franchise branding for any OEM or custom branding for the dealership. So the ultimate result is not only something that resembles the branding of the dealership, lives on the dealership's website domain, but also has a feature set that can be configured to each individual dealer's needs." Future is a Hybrid While Hinrichs is absolutely convinced that car shoppers want the option of an online shopping and buying experience, he does not predict that the industry will see a wholesale shift to end-to-end online buying. Instead, he predicts the future of auto retailing will be a hybrid process that lets the customer choose when and what they do online and when and what they do in the showroom. "At Digital Motors, we do not believe that there is going to be a hard cut over from the traditional offline process to everything all of a sudden occurring online," he said. "What we clearly identified is virtually every single car buyer has an express need to do more online than they traditionally were able to do. Whether this means structuring the entire deal or parts of the deal doesn't really matter. By the time they contact the dealer or visit the dealer physically, they want to have a good understanding of their deal. If if they've played around on the online store beforehand, customers are no longer coming in just kicking tires, taking test drives, and being non-committal. By the time they walk in after getting the transparency on the online store, they're ready to do the deal." And isn't that what every dealer wants?
Consumer Behavior Study Upends Common Misconception That the Vast Majority of Online Shoppers are Ready to Buy

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Indianapolis — August 8, 2018 — PERQ, experts in online consumer engagement and shopping behavior, has released new analysis of consumer call-to-action (CTA) data with key learnings for websites of brick and mortar businesses who sell (or lease) high-consideration, big ticket items — especially in the automotive, home furnishing and multifamily leasing verticals. The research, which looks closely at click-to-conversion behavior as well as the overall online experience, found key patterns in the way consumers approach researching and shopping for big-ticket items. The data illuminates serious flaws in long-held assumptions about what consumers want to do once they’ve reached a website and has significant implications for the efficacy of artificial intelligence (AI) in helping engage these website visitors. “A common misconception for big ticket retailers is that their website visitors are ready-to-buy and are close to the bottom of the shopping funnel, which means that many of these businesses are approaching web engagement in the exact opposite direction of how their customers are behaving,” said Muhammad Yasin, Vice President of Marketing at PERQ. “Our data reveals that most of these online web visitors are in the process of educating themselves, and doing extensive research before they finalize the purchase in person. This presents a major opportunity for businesses to nurture consumers they may otherwise lose before they make the decision to buy. For example, PERQ’s insights on automotive retailing show that, rather than going to dealer websites for “buy” tools, like credit apps and trade-in appraisals which is what conventional wisdom assumes, 77% of car shoppers on dealership websites are actually at the beginning or middle of the process and are interested in tools that help them make a decision. A similar misconception exists in home furnishing where retailers often treat websites as static, digital brochures and at multifamily websites, where leasing companies fail to engage apartment shoppers early in their research with compelling website content that helps spur the consumer’s decision. Global researcher Gartner [1] says that next-generation customers strongly desire self-service and don’t see the need for a salesperson for tasks that they can — and prefer to — accomplish themselves. AI-powered websites featuring online customer journeys help streamline a shopper’s propensity for self-service by using historical data to hone down choices and next steps and to drive relevant CTAs dynamically for each consumer. Key insights The data revealed insights that all industries can leverage to improve click-to-action conversion and website engagement and shows that AI-enabled websites that intuitively and dynamically change for each consumer’s personal shopping journey delivers improved results both on and offline: Insight Findings Optimize for mobile Conversions increase 50% when websites are optimized for mobile. That includes a 95% increase in banner performance, 167% for sidebars, and 7% for buttons. CTA Placement Matters Sidebar click performance improves 200% when moved from top left to bottom right. Multiple Engagements Means Higher Close Rate Likelihood to buy increases by 66% for consumers that engage with two CTAs, while the likelihood to buy for those that engage with five CTAs goes up to 230%. “It’s no longer a ‘buy now’ world, especially for retailers who need to capture high research customers and guide them into their brick and mortar location, ” said Yasin. “Our data shows that today's websites must be driven by AI technology as a way to adjust the consumer story and stay relevant to the specific needs and interests of buyers.” Study methodology PERQ reviewed consumer data captured from 8 million CTA renderings from more than a half-million visitors on PERQ’s website platform. Data collected includes all types of lead formats, and during all phases of the consumer journey. For more of PERQ’s analysis, click here. About PERQ PERQ ( www.perq.com ), boosts website conversion through its online guided shopping solution which leverages artificial intelligence to dynamically change existing websites to deliver the next best step in each buyer’s shopping journey. As experts in online consumer engagement and behavior, PERQ leverages over 10 million consumer data points, along with real-time visitor behavior. Founded in 2001, PERQ solutions are used by more than 1,000 businesses in the home furnishing, auto retailing and multifamily industries. Its brands have been named to the Inc. “500 Fastest Growing Companies in America” list on three separate occasions. In 2017, PERQ won the Gold Stevie® Award for lead generation software and Product of the Year in the Big Business Awards. PERQ Media Contacts Melanie Webber, mWEBB Communications, melanie@mwebbcom.com or 949-307-1723 Cassandra Cavanah, mWEBB Communications, cassandra@mwebbcom.com or 818-397-4630 [1]   www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/how-to-respond-to-tomorrows-customers-today/
MaximTrak Announces FLITE ENGAGE, the Online Retail Platform that Supports and Streamlines the Consumer Vehicle-Buying Experience

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Wayne, PA — March 22, 2018  — MaximTrak Technologies, the automotive industry’s premier finance and insurance (F&I) platform provider, announced today the release of MaximTrak FLITE ENGAGE. FLITE ENGAGE was designed to optimize the online consumer buying experience within a brandable and configurable retailing platform. Built on FLITE technologies, MaximTrak’s suite of showroom tools built for the F&I of tomorrow, FLITE ENGAGE is now available for partners that wish to ENGAGE with consumers online. FLITE ENGAGE, connects consumers and dealership F&I departments earlier in the buying cycle when embedded into OEM, dealer, and third-party websites. It captures and engages consumers through their shopping journey via mobile or showroom experiences to deliver a complete, transparent, and efficient digital buying solution. This unprecedented array of technologies works together to seamlessly create and deliver the consumer experience the industry has been waiting for. FLITE ENGAGE is flexible and modular, equipping OEMs and dealers with tools to power their own custom processes, while maintaining support for each of our partners’ unique strategy and approach to the digital transaction. “We offer FLITE ENGAGE to our partners that wish to redefine the consumer buying experience and create a seamless transition from the online world to the showroom world, especially in F&I.” notes Jim Maxim, Jr, President of MaximTrak, a RouteOne company, and Chief Digital Officer for RouteOne. With FLITE ENGAGE, OEMs and dealers can develop and enable a custom and modular workflow that seamlessly transitions from OEM and dealer sites to support more transactional level business, allowing consumers to calculate payments options, apply for finance using RouteOne’s secure Online Credit Application and data integrations, customize their vehicle with aftermarket products & accessories, and submit their entire deal right to the dealership. The FLITE decisioning engine, which leverages data and artificial intelligence, drives tailored product recommendations and powers the entire experience. From living room to showroom – and any stop between — the shopper drives the process. To further customize their deal, customers use FLITE ENGAGE’s Smart Survey, a predictive analytics tool which recommends an aftermarket package that best fit the customer’s needs based on vehicle choice, deal information, driving habits, and multiple data points. “FLITE ENGAGE leverages everything we’ve learned about car buyers to reach them where they are, earlier in the buying cycle, to usher them through an exceptional experience and allowing for a robust, customer-directed presentation of the value of F&I protections,” said Maxim. The MaximTrak platform is deployed domestically and internationally as a turnkey solution for creating engaging selling experiences that yield robust results, redefining F&I. The company’s new FLITE ENGAGE, FLITE, and a suite of solutions, naturally interfaces with RouteOne’s unified, comprehensive consumer services that empower dealers with seamless, state-of-the-art consumer transaction experiences. "With FLITE ENGAGE, the next evolution of FLITE, MaximTrak again redefines the F&I transaction," Maxim says. About MaximTrak MaximTrak, a RouteOne Company, offers an all-in-one, digitized platform for flexible F&I and is preferred by leaders in the industry concerned with efficiency, profitability, compliance, and the modern customer experience. The MaximTrak platform transforms the vehicle delivery process into a flexible, customer-friendly program that converts traditional F&I wisdom into consistent, repeatable, and sustainable results. For more information, call 1.800.282.6308 or visit www.maximtrak.com. Media Contact Kathy Armstrong, Sr. Marketing Manager for RouteOne LLC, 248.862.7568, karmstrong@routeone.com
eLEND Solutions Builds Out Sales Team With Auto Lending Sales Leaders

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Foothill Ranch, CA — March 7, 2018 — eLEND Solutions™, specialists in online and in-store finance and "deal-making" solutions for auto dealers, today announced they are building out their sales team with two proven auto finance sales leaders. Joe Peterson has joined as Chief Sales Officer and Flory Hunsaker as Regional Sales Director. Together, they will lead the formation of eLEND’s national sales team to fuel the roll-out of the company’s upcoming next-stage F&I solution. The new solution, which helps dealers complete profitable deals in record time, while reducing the costly loan rewrites that plague even the most experienced Sales and F&I Managers, will launch into the market in Q2. “I call Joe and Flory the ‘dynamic duo’ — they come to eLEND after working together to build a huge and successful portfolio of over 9,000 dealer customers,” said Pete MacInnis, CEO of eLEND Solutions. “They will be instrumental as we usher in this exciting new phase in our growth. Their deep experience in both the auto retailing and financing space, and impressive past successes, perfectly position them to bring our innovative new products and services to market.” In an environment where customers are hyper-sensitive to time and hassle — and are demanding quick approval for financing — the challenge is to eliminate process dead zones, streamline the experience and, importantly, reduce cost to the dealer. Peterson and Hunsaker are building a sales team that will help retail professionals simplify this all-important part of the car buyer’s journey with products that crunches millions of pieces of data into a user-friendly platform, without sacrificing profit or losing lender relationships. With an average of 13% of contracts being rewritten, it’s a key issue and a significant cost risk to dealers and their finance sources. “Joining eLEND Solutions to help dealers bridge the gaps in the current auto finance process and simplify what is currently an incredibly complex and inefficient process is an opportunity I deeply relish,” said Peterson. Peterson’s career spans 30-plus years in the automotive brand, retail and finance space. During that time, he has held key leadership positions with companies such as Gateway One, Reynolds & Reynolds, and Capital One, among others. Each opportunity has brought with it a chance to expand his expertise, and bring to bear a management style based on a results-driven approach to problem solving. Peterson has been especially known for his ability to use trend-based market analysis to boost market share and revenue. He is widely known as a customer-first advocate who puts his focus on developing a positive rapport through solid business relationships. “We’re excited to help bring forth the next chapter of eLEND Solutions to dealers and can’t wait to show customers what we have in store for the future of automotive retail and lending: from innovations in workflow and decisioning to streamlining the process of making the best match between customer and lender,” added Hunsaker. Hunsaker brings 25-years of experience in the automotive lending industry, including a decade at Gateway One where she rose through the ranks based on her excellence in sales, new market development and leadership. Most recently, she served as Regional VP, Southwest states and built a highly success sales team with over $80 million monthly in loan originations. Goal-oriented and visionary, among her many achievements at Gateway One were creating its first employee training program, developing and managing a credit/sales team for mega dealer groups and helping generate significant metrics improvements across the company’s sales initiatives. “The scientific approach that eLEND Solutions brings to such challenges is the reason we joined this team — and what makes the company a key transformative player heading into the future,” concluded Peterson. About eLEND Solutions eLEND Solutions is a privately held automotive technology company specializing in online and in-store credit, finance and ‘deal making’ solutions designed to create a more efficient, faster moving Sales and F&I workflow that helps dealers sell more cars in less time, improve profitability and increase customer satisfaction. For more information, visit www.elendsolutions.com . Media Contacts Cassandra Cavanah, mWEBB Communications, Cassandra@mwebbcom.com or (818) 397-4630 Crystal Hartwell, mWEBB Communications, crystal@mwebbcom.com or (714) 987-1016
All-New Autotrader Brings More Trust and Speed to Online Car Shopping and Buying

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Atlanta — January 29, 2018 — Autotrader , which became the first nationwide online car shopping site more than 20 years ago, will undergo a dramatic transformation throughout 2018, resulting in a faster, more personalized online shopping experience that delivers true price confidence for today’s consumers. These enhancements also will result in more engagement, higher quality leads and actual car sales for Autotrader’s dealer clients. “Car shoppers have set clear expectations of how they like to shop and transact online: to have a trusted and transparent experience that’s fast and enjoyable,” said Jessica Stafford, senior vice president and general manager of Autotrader. “ At Autotrader, we’ve made bigger, smarter and bolder investments to create a more modern and complete digital shopping experience that will improve site satisfaction with consumers and generate more opportunities for dealers to connect with local, ready-to-buy shoppers.” The following enhancements will deliver solutions that better serve Autotrader’s consumers and clients: Seamless Shopping Across Device: Shopping all the cars on Autotrader will be easier than ever before with a sleek new look that is consistent across desktop, tablet and mobile, offering faster loading times and a more efficient shopping journey that connects more consumers with the cars they want to buy. Price Confidence with Kelley Blue Book® Price Advisor: Autotrader will be the only third-party car shopping site to feature the Kelley Blue Book® Fair Market Range on all eligible vehicle inventory listings, giving car shoppers the confidence to purchase with expert, up-to-date and data-driven pricing information from the industry’s most trusted resource. Online Deal Making: Through digital retailing, Autotrader is providing all-new opportunities to move shoppers from searching to buying when they are ready, empowering consumers to start the deal online, reducing the time it takes to complete the purchase, and making it faster and easier than ever for dealers to close sales. Refined Search Experience: A modernized search experience to drive relevance and speed — up to 25% faster — will sort listings by shopper search criteria, previous shopping history, and a combination of distance, value and merchandising. Increased user engagement and enhanced inventory results will help shoppers find what they are looking for sooner, connecting them to nearby dealers. Personalized Shopper Content: For an even more personalized connection with today’s car shopper, Autotrader will leverage the power of Cox Automotive data to provide every visitor with a personalized, frictionless experience that will help them find the right car and feel confident in their choice. The new Autotrader will go live in January 2018 with the launch of a new, mobile-first homepage, and will have a staged roll-out throughout the calendar year. Media Contact Giuseppe Barone, MWWPR, on behalf of Autotrader, 201-964-2446 ,  gbarone@mww.com