Cox Automotive is an exhibitor at the 2024 Digital Dealer Conference and Expo from October 8-10, located at booth 201
Cox Automotive has introduced Retail360, a comprehensive suite of tools that connects the entire auto retail ecosystem along every step of the car-buying journey.
The company is promoting the new tool as an industry first due to it creating the transparent experience car buyers want with the deal control dealers need. Retail360 features capabilities to be rolled out as a series of innovations over the next several quarters from Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book, Dealer.com, vAuto, VinSolutions, Dealertrack, and Xtime.
Cox officials see the suite to modernizing marketing, sales, back office, service lane for dealers and OEMs and brining deal consistency to audience, shopping, buying and owning stages.
“We believe in the power of bringing buyer and seller together,” said Lori Wittman, president of retail solutions, Cox Automotive in a press statement announcing the new suite. “Retail360 expands that belief to an omnichannel approach which brings consistency and allows the dealer to personalize all the possible ways today’s buyer may approach their purchase or service visit.
Uniting Online and the Showroom
According to Cox’s consumer research, 83 percent of consumers think they should be able to continue an online buying experience in-store and 88 percent think it should save them time in-store. Meeting those expectations pays dividends for the dealership, 90 percent of customers saying a positive experience increases their likelihood of a repeat purchase and 80 percent saying it will bring them in for a service visit.
With Retail360 Cox can now apply specific data intelligence about the consumer, the vehicle, and the deal, all the way through from submitting a lead to the F&I process to contract signing, according to Wittman.
“By uniting the online and in-store steps, we’ve bridged traditional and digital car buying,” she said. “Now, consumers and dealers can complete the deal faster, easier and build a lasting relationship.”
Rise of Online Buying
Recent finding by Cox show that broken deals are caused by disconnected data and separated workflows when systems can’t follow a shopper’s chosen purchase path, especially between digital and in-person activities. The resulting friction leaves consumers frustrated and auto retailers susceptible to new direct-to-consumer models and other competitors.
Most car buyers prefer omnichannel car buying – a combination of online and in-store actions that keeps the deal connected along any path a customer chooses. According to Cox Automotive’s latest Car Buying Journey study, 43 percent of car buyers who purchased in the last 12 months used an omnichannel approach and 71 percent of consumers indicate they are likely to complete their next purchase that way.
“Research is telling us that 21 percent of car purchases in the next few years will be completed totally online,” said Kevin Frye, eCommerce Director with Jeff Wyler Automotive Family and a speaker at #DDCE2024. “That leaves nearly 80 percent of car buyers who want an improved experience that still involves working alongside a salesperson at some point; omnichannel allows that. Cox Automotive is the only provider with the resources and know-how to make omnichannel possible – and to help me deliver brand experiences that close more deals and build loyal customers for life.”
Introducing Deal Central
The first innovation from Retail360 is Deal Central, which centralizes for salespeople, desk managers and F&I staff one place to view, work and finalize all active deals based on exclusive shopper insights gleaned from Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book and Dealer.com websites. Cox officials offered this will give consumer a more accurate, transparent car buying experience while dealers can close more deals without giving up profitability.
In fact, pilot programs of Deal Central had their closing rate jump to 22.2 percent compared to 8.9 percent from other leads. And by introducing shoppers to F&l products earlier in the sales process, early adopters are seeing an increase in back-end gross profits of 10 percent compared to other leads.
Yuriy Demidko, Senior VP & Chief Information Officer at Fox Kia North, said his sales staff are attributing sales directly to the insights the tool provides the salesperson and the empowerment it gives to the shopper
“With Deal Central, shoppers get flexibility and transparency which is translating into a better customer experience and an increase in gross for our dealership,” said Demidko. “Sales managers are closing deals more easily by matching payments to the shoppers’ buying signals information.”
What’s Next?
AI-powered F&I intelligence and automation, which leverages the same AI-led predictive insights from Cox’s consumer touchpoints and the largest lender network, dealers can now streamline finance decisions and automate the ID verification and contracting processes, according to company officials. Adding data insights and automating these steps provides consumers and dealers with the flexibility to digitally complete deals at the dealership or off premises.
“This is only the beginning,” stated Wittman. “Breakthroughs in data science, computing power and the ingenuity of our team of experts fuel our ability to invest and innovate so that automakers and dealerships never lose their connection to car buyers nor the ability to give them what they want.”
