Andy Moss, CEO
Andy Moss, CEO
Michelle Denogean, Chief Marketing Officer
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For U.S.-based Roadster, which offers digital retailing tools, one key observation at this year’s NADA Show was the number of dealers that were eager to jump on the digital bandwagon, according to CEO Andy Moss.
“They’re now ready. It’s one of those things where I think the technology has been there and now the dealers are starting to really embrace it,” said Moss. “So now they want to really dive into how it works for their business.”
Moss said the definition of digital retailing is very specific. You can do it from an online process, and get as far through the buying process where there may be a couple of forms to sign. And it’s becoming increasingly important for dealers to offer an omni-channel experience and digitize the transaction.
“I think our biggest differentiator is, we’re the customer journey company. There is a need for the consumer to be able to go in and out of the online and offline process,” said Moss. “The goal is going to be to make that as smooth as possible, and we’re very firmly of the belief that the majority of the transactions will be done that way at dealerships within the next three to five years.”
To Moss, it’s just a matter of how quickly dealers will want to go down that road. Dealers will need to consider the benefits versus any negatives — one big benefit being the efficiency of the process. The frontline salesperson would traditionally (and literally) be running back and forth to the sales manager, the used car manager, the finance director, and whoever else. But Moss said that process does not really empower them to actually work with a customer to get them the pricing they need as quickly.
“We transform things by putting you with the same kind of capability as the consumer. As soon as we did that, it became obvious to our dealer partners that they also needed to put that same technology in the frontline sales person’s hands,” said Moss. “And I think that’s what you’re sort of seeing from a trend perspective. Yes there’s a desire or need for a dealer to have some level of transparency. But by putting it into the software, you can put guard rails around it so that as the frontline salesperson, you’ll pretty much do most of those things.”
In terms of what else Roadster has been up to, Michelle Denogean, the company’s Chief Marketing Officer, said they have developed a self-assessment that dealers can take ahead of time before they sign up. Dealers can decide what type of implementation they are ready for, based on their philosophy and their current setup. And Denogean believes there are different stages of digital retailing that dealers are ready for.
“Everybody’s going to have a tablet or carry their screen around — all the dealers will be empowered to do that at the sales floor level. And so we look at that, we ask questions, and then we consult to say, okay, this is what we think after we understand a little bit more of your process. And then on top of that, as they are on-boarding, we spend two full days in the store,” said Denogean.
She said that 80 per cent of the work is all about the dealer’s process and culture, and only about 20 per cent is about the technology.
Roadster launched in Canada in 2019.
Return to NADA Show 2020
