THE IMPORTANCE OF PERSONALIZATION IN THE DIGITAL DEALERSHIP

One of the many reasons today’s leading consumer sites have become so successful is the creation of a personalized customer experience. Every purchase, every search, every click, is logged into their systems and into your profile. The first time you use a site like Netflix or Pandora, it’s a blank slate. But every move you make leads to recommendations the next time you visit the site, leading to a personalized service and anticipation of products built up over time that presents options without you even having to ask.

Groundbreaking when it happened, it’s now expected for any and all consumer-facing sites online. And like other technological advances, the auto industry is finally joining the party now. More importantly, Cox Automotive’s media solutions brands have collaborated so that the personalized customer experience is integrated across all websites and pages.

Dealer.com’s Website Experience Optimization is a breakthrough for dealership websites. The product saves dealers time and money by deploying inventory and fixed ops marketing content, specials, and assets automatically on the site. This all happens in a consumer-friendly shopping experience that personalizes the content for car buyers.

With the integration of Cox Automotive company websites Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book, the Dealer.com’s technology automatically delivers curated inventory for each individual shopper based on their online shopping behavior. The technology is so advanced that this happens even on the customer’s first visit to the website.

So for example, if a shopper is browsing SUVs on Autotrader and looking for trade values on Kelley Blue Book, those searches and data are merged together into a dealer’s digital showroom so that the customer only sees the most relevant vehicles and offers when they visit your dealership’s site. The integration between Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book, and the dealer website, helps deliver a more relevant consumer experience and accelerates the path to purchase. Experience Optimization generally results in click through rates two to two and a half times higher on personalized content than on non-personalized content.1

The Dealer.com Website Experience Optimization technology will be featured at the Driving Sales Executive Summit Innovation Cup Product Showcase in Las Vegas, October 22-24, 2017.

Using this type of technology is essential for today’s dealer in today’s car-buying environment. Bringing today’s personalized experience to car-buying may not be revolutionary, but it is an essential asset that all dealers need to remain competitive.

1 Dealer.com Homepage Personalization Test, August 2017

Bob George is Senior Director of Website & Platform Products at Dealer.com.

SPEED IS THE NEW CURRENCY WHEN IT COMES TO DEALER PROFITS
by Russ Daniels

You can’t sell a car that your customer can’t see.  That’s a pretty basic truth. 

A unit acquired at auction can take up to two weeks to be transported and have assets processed, before it can be marketed online with detailed descriptions and high quality photos.  This is two weeks when your auction buy is accruing holding costs and simultaneously missing opportunities to attract interested customers. This math doesn’t add up to profits for your dealership. 

Speed to market is more important than ever in the post-peak era of margin compression.  Auto retailers are relying on technology to streamline dealer operations and accelerate turn.

HomeNet’s newly-enhanced Rapid Retail solution quickly markets auction buys from any Manheim location before they arrive on your lot, dropping online time-to-market for auction purchased vehicles from days to hours.  The product will be featured at the Driving Sales Executive Summit Innovation Cup Product Showcase in Las Vegas, October 22-24, 2017.

Rapid Retail syndicates auction data and photos to a dealer website and advertising platforms within hours of unit acquisition.  The accelerated merchandising also overlays specialized comments so an interested customer knows the unit is “in transit”.  The dealer gets a head start in the marketplace, and the option to refresh the unit with customized descriptions and photos once the vehicle arrives.  The speed and value associated with it is possible because of shared data integration between HomeNet and Manheim, both Cox Automotive brands.

Rapid Retail allows for lead generation and even the purchase of auction vehicles before they arrive on the dealers’ lot. As one dealer recently said: "My dealership benefits from auction to online speed to market because we're able to start conversations with customers early, making them aware of cars that will soon hit my lot. The extra days of exposure give us more interactions with customers.  Some even are calling my dealership before the car arrives."

Rapid Retail doesn’t only focus on speed, it’s goal is to deliver higher engagement on vehicle inventory earlier; driving views, leads, and profitable revenue for our dealer clients.

Russ Daniels is Senior Manager, Product Marketing at HomeNet.

The most popular blog posts this week were (drumroll, please!)... 

#5. Customer Experience on Dealer Websites        40% of people abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load.        What does this mean for auto dealers?

#4. Customer Acquisition Can be More Effective When You Spend $0       What if I told you there's a customer acquisition strategy that costs ZERO dollars?

#3. It's Time to Address the 10,000-Ton Elephant in the Room       Why are you paying Google to drive traffic to your site?

#2. 50 Creative Ways to Increase Sales       These 50 things can help you make it happen in sales.

#1. The Truth About CarGurus       CarGurus' founder wants to clear up a few things.

CONTACT:
Lisa Hagendorf
Centerpiece Public Relations
lisa@centerpiecepr.com

DRIVE MOTORS HIRES FORMER SHOWROOM LOGIC CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER TO EXPAND EXECUTIVE TEAM AS SVP OF CONSUMER EXPERIENCE

San Francisco-based Tech Company Leverages Recent $5.2M Fundraise to Make Key Hire

SAN FRANCISCO (October 3, 2017) -- Drive Motors, which builds ecommerce solutions for the largest car dealerships and dealers in the country, announced today that Matt Weinberg will be joining the team as Senior Vice President of Consumer Experience. Mr. Weinberg joins the company from Showroom Logic, an automotive digital-marketing company, where he was their Chief Strategy Officer.

"I’m excited to join the team during this pivotal phase for Drive Motors, a company that’s uniquely positioned as the online-checkout pioneer in the automotive space," said Mr. Weinberg, who will be based in South Florida. "As the company continues to develop consumer-friendly features that will streamline the future of car buying, I’m looking forward to expanding our dealership network and driving those efforts.”

An industry veteran, Mr. Weinberg brings nearly 20 years of automotive experience to his new role at Drive Motors. His responsibilities include engaging with the nation’s largest dealer groups to create online strategies that drive the best consumer experience. Additionally, he will be growing a team of automotive ecommerce experts that will help dealers seamlessly deliver online checkout to car buyers, nationwide. He started his career in the car business in 1994, working at several dealerships in automotive retail and ecommerce. He left the retail side of the industry in 2005, becoming Territory Manager, Southeast U.S., for Izmocars, an automotive web-solutions provider.

"Matt’s in-depth knowledge of the psychology and behavior of the American automotive consumer, combined with his passion for partnering with dealers and driving their online success, will be a tremendous asset in scaling our growth,” said Aaron Krane, CEO and founder of Drive Motors. "With Matt newly on board and rounding out our executive team, we now can elevate our product offerings to the next level, bringing the future of car buying to dealers and consumers, today."

In August 2017, Drive Motors announced that it raised $5.2 million in total funding with the completion of its seed round, led by Bullpen Capital, with participation from existing investors: Y Combinator, Khosla Ventures, Perkins Coie LLP, Emagen Entertainment Group, and others.

Drive Motors transforms car-dealership websites and showrooms into ecommerce destinations, and, since completing Y Combinator’s incubator program in 2016, has grown to over 1,000 car orders per month and $250 million in annual order volume for its dealership customers.  

About Drive Motors
Drive Motors builds ecommerce experiences for auto dealerships. For dealerships, Drive Motors offers an online-checkout experience that integrates effortlessly into their own website and showroom, and transforms their dealership into an ecommerce destination. For buyers, Drive Motors offers a simple, end-to-end checkout experience that removes sales pressure from the showroom, and lets people buy at home in their comfort zone. For more information, visit drivemotors.com/dealers and follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

These were the most popular blogs in September:

1. The Truth About Car Gurus

2. 50 Creative Ways You Can Increase Your Sales

3. Is Dealer.com Corrupting Your Data?

4. It's Time to Address the 10,000-lb. Elephant in the Room

5. 13 Rules for Social Media Success in the Car Dealership

Here's your look at the most popular DrivingSales blog posts this week:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Fastlane, the Dallas-based startup e-commerce platform for automotive dealers, will be exhibiting at the DrivingSales Executive Summit, October 22-24 at Bellagio in Las Vegas.  Driving innovation and excellence in the auto industry, the Executive Summit gathers the most progressive dealers in the country to collaborate on innovative trends and formulate business plans for the following year.
Experts from inside and outside the industry will challenge attendees to think outside the box to create value in new, exciting ways and teach tactical strategies used at dealerships across the country.

Much like the conference itself, Fastlane utilizes innovation and excellence to improve online car buying. The platform offers dealerships the ability to showcase their inventory, help customers pick out the car they want and choose other purchase components such as financing, service contracts and insurance for a seamless start-to-finish buying experience.

Though Fastlane is reinventing car buying, the platform is not eliminating the need for a middleman. “Our goal is to supplement current dealer operations by adding a unique customer experience through our online checkout. We are here to make online car buying advantageous for car dealers and customers alike by fostering new ways of engagement and creating a dynamic shopping experience for all parties. It’s the best of both worlds,” says Brandon Hall, Fastlane’s CEO.

About the conference

DrivingSales Executive Summit keynote speakers include Jared Hamilton, CEO and Founder of DrivingSales; Kristin Hadeed, Founder of Student Maid; David Bell, Professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School; Dr. Heidi Grant, Associate Director of the Motivation Science Center; and Jay Acunzo, Host of award-winning podcast Unthinkable.

Join Fastlane and be part of the industry shifting conversation. Save your seats and register for the summit today at http://www.drivingsales.com/dses/registration/ and visit Fastlane at their booth.

About Fastlane

Fastlane, with headquarters in Dallas, Texas, is a developer of innovative e-commerce and showroom technologies for automotive dealerships. Fastlane creates value for dealers by providing them with an online checkout experience and enhancing dealer’s in-store purchase experience, giving them the power to sell more cars, be more profitable and increase overall customer satisfaction. By offering Fastlane’s turnkey purchasing solution, dealers give customers a convenient way to complete the purchase transaction while the sales team focuses on engaging with customers and building long-term relationships that last well after the car is purchased.

Fastlane’s technical integration team, based in Dallas, Texas, customizes the Fastlane e-commerce platform to meet the specific and unique needs of individual dealerships and dealer groups.

For more information about Fastlane, please visit their website, www.fastlane.car and their online newsroom, www.newsline360.com/fastlane. Contact Fastlane at sales@fastlane.car.

# # #

Media Contact:

Kurman Communications, Inc.

Cindy Kurman or Lee Barrie

(312) 651-9000

team@kurman.com

Cox Automotive has named Janet Barnard as its new chief people officer, and Grace Huang has been name as the new president of Cox Automotive Inventory Solutions.



Barnard will replace Rock Anderson, who is retiring, and Huang will take Barnard’s place as president of Inventory Solutions.

Sandy Schwartz, Cox Automotive president, to whom Barnard will report, said in a news release: “Janet’s leadership style and passion for developing people are exactly what we need to further integrate Cox Automotive teams. Her creativity, operational expertise, and outstanding industry reputation will help us solidify our place as a destination for top talent.”

Huang most recently served as senior vice president of Manheim Inventory Services, a Cox subsidiary. She will report to Cox Automotive COO Mark O’Neil, who said in a press release, “Grace is the right leader to take on this important position, as she’s been instrumental in the growth of Inventory Solutions. She is a strategic thinker with an outstanding track record for executing initiatives that enhance our operations, team member engagement, and client success.”