LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y. — At the 2015 National Automotive Dealers Association (NADA 2015) Convention & Exposition in San Francisco last week, Dealertrack showcased its latest connected technologies and services that are driving today's online to in-store convergence in automotive retailing.
“2015 is going to be an exciting year for the automotive retail industry," said Raj Sundaram, co-president of Dealertrack, prior to the convention. "We know from our data and our experience in working with clients that there is a growing demand from consumers to take time and complexity out of the car buying process. At NADA, we will show dealers how our connected solutions can create a better overall car buying experience for customers and help drive profits, by adding clarity and simplicity to what was previously a time-consuming and stressful process for shoppers."
The company showcased a number of mobile, digital retailing, digital marketing, F&I, inventory, and dealer management solutions that demonstrated how the online and in-store processes and experiences converge. The new solutions featured at NADA included:
Mobile eContract Review and Signing: Dealertrack has introduced eContracting mobile review and sign functionality for iPad and Android tablets. With this new capability, eContracting has truly gone mobile, removing the need for tethered signature pads or use of expensive installed display pads that confine dealers and their buyers to the F&I office, officials said. The ability to review and sign documents on an iPad or Android-based tablet helps to significantly streamline the contracting process and improve the overall customer experience. The use of eContracting within the dealer and lender communities continues to grow. Dealertrack has processed more than three million eContracts, and the company expects the number of lenders adopting and launching Dealertrack eContracting to increase in 2015.
Digital Retailing App: Over the past several years, digital retailing tools have helped many dealers achieve milestone closing ratios for website leads compared to third-party leads and standard website leads. At NADA, Dealertrack introduced a new tool that leverages the power of digital retailing right from an iPad in the showroom. The new Digital Retailing App will help create a faster and more efficient sales process with customers, by giving dealers direct mobile access to website leads, inventory and finance data, and the ability for consumers to submit credit applications directly from the showroom floor.
F&I Presentation on Websites: With ProtectionDriver, the latest innovation in Dealertrack's line of Digital Retailing offerings, dealers will empower shoppers to explore F&I options on their website during the early stages of the shopping process. Having access to F&I product information on the website will help consumers better understand how they can protect their vehicle, all while helping to save time in the showroom. As with the complete Dealertrack Digital Retailing solution, the ProtectionDriver settings are controlled by the dealer to maximize product penetration and deal profitability.
Service Check-In App: The days of checking in customers on the service drive and handling a multi-point inspection with a pencil and paper are gone. Dealertrack is launching new functionality that will allow dealers to gain increased day-to-day efficiencies through the use of a new Service Check-in App. Service Check-in enables advisors to check in customers at their vehicle, review and recover previously declined services, and consistently capture more upsell opportunities in the service department. Along with this new Fixed Operations product offering, Dealertrack has rebranded Dealertrack ASR Pro as Dealertrack Service Pro. The new name helps to unify the product line as the company continues to expand on this platform. The new Service Check-In App will work on any current generation iPad, and fully integrates with Dealertrack Service Pro. It will be available to Dealertrack DMS clients immediately, and other DMS providers coming soon.
All the new functionality shown at NADA will be available to dealers in the first half of 2015.
