The monthly Techwatch feature by Automotive Management outlines a number of the last month’s highlights in motor retail technological developments.
By Alex Wright
Vines Group is rolling out latest Mad Devs technology across its dealerships as a part of a wider programme to enhance online sales by enhancing the shopper journey. The dealer group operates seven BMW and MINI dealerships across the South of England.
It’s launching iStoreDOCS, a digital document management system that permits customers to finish a purchase order remotely, while dealership teams can monitor progress through a central dashboard and maintain a full compliance record for each transaction. The implementation forms a part of Vines’ continued investment in digital retailing as more customers select to finish elements of the buying journey online before visiting a dealership.
By digitising documentation, the retailer experiences fewer delays, improves consistency across its sites and frees staff from time-consuming manual processes. Monique Limerick, future retail implementation manager, Vines Group, said: “Successful technology implementations are about greater than the platform. They depend on strong partnership, effective change management and a transparent give attention to supporting people through the transition.
“The rollout of iStoreDOCS across Vines Group has been a collaborative and well-managed implementation. From planning through to deployment, the team took the time to know our business, communicated openly and remained responsive throughout the project.
“While we’re still early in our journey, it has been encouraging to see our teams embrace the platform so quickly. We’re already seeing improvements in efficiency and consistency, and I stay up for constructing on these early successes as we proceed our partnership with iStoreDOCS.”
iStoreDOCS is an element of the Mad Devs Connect platform, which is utilized by greater than 2,000 retail sites across the UK and Ireland. A key element is the Connect customer portal, which now handles 82% of customer journeys across the dealer network, giving retailers a single digital route for patrons to finish purchases and manage documentation.
Daniel Rea, sales director at Mad Devs, said: “Retailers want technology that matches naturally into the best way they already work and makes life easier for each their teams and their customers. iStoreDOCS helps dealers meet compliance requirements and offers customers the liberty to finish documentation at a time that suits them. We’re pleased to be supporting Vines Group because it continues to take a position in its digital customer experience.”
The Vines rollout is the newest in a series of deployments for Mad Devs as dealer groups proceed to take a position in technology that accelerates transactions, strengthens compliance and improves the general customer experience.
Solera Cap HPI is introducing a big upgrade to its motorcycle data platform, giving dealers access to richer vehicle information designed to enhance valuations, stock management and part exchange decisions. The improved Green Book and Latest Vehicle Data platforms mix expanded market intelligence with motorcycle options data for the primary time, bringing the extent of specification detail much closer to that already available across the automobile market.
The move reflects the growing complexity of contemporary motorcycles, where trim levels, technology packages and factory-fitted options can have a big impact on used values but have traditionally been difficult to discover consistently. For dealers, the extra data should make it easier to value stock accurately, distinguish between similar-looking models and price part exchanges with greater confidence. It also provides a more complete picture of individual motorcycles, helping businesses present vehicles more effectively to prospective buyers.
As a part of the rollout, Solera Cap HPI has enhanced its Latest Vehicle Data, providing greater visibility across expanding model ranges while introducing factory-fitted options and standard equipment data for motorcycles for the primary time. The improvements will help dealers compare specifications more easily and reduce the chance of undervaluing or overvaluing stock. The enhancements are scheduled for October, when six-point mileage functionality shall be introduced to further improve valuation accuracy, particularly for higher mileage bikes.
The broader data update also standardises the best way motorcycle pricing is presented. Relatively than publishing on-the-road prices, Solera cap hpi will align motorcycle data with its automobile and industrial vehicle datasets by displaying basic vehicle prices individually from registration and taxation costs.
The corporate has also introduced clearer rules governing when latest CAP codes are created, reducing unnecessary complexity while maintaining accurate identification of real model changes.
Stacey Ward, senior data director at Solera Cap HPI, said: “The motorcycle market has evolved significantly lately, each by way of the complexity of model ranges and the expectations dealers and consumers now have around data accuracy.
“The relaunch of our bike data is about giving the industry a far richer and more transparent view of the market. By expanding our data sources, enhancing our latest vehicle data and introducing motorcycle options data for the primary time, we’re making a more detailed and accurate picture of each latest and used motorcycles. Accurate and structured data is becoming increasingly essential for dealers, finance providers and insurers as they appear to enhance decision-making and reduce risk across the vehicle lifecycle.”
The enhancements arrive as motorcycle dealers face increasing pressure to guard margins in a competitive used market. Higher data can support more accurate pricing, stronger stock profiling and greater confidence when assessing part exchanges, while helping finance providers, insurers and remarketing businesses work from a more consistent view of auto specifications and values.
Payment Assist has launched a brand new digital tool designed to present drivers detailed insight right into a automobile they own or are considering buying.
The flexible finance provider said its Get to Know Your Automobile tool could provide personalised reports setting out common model faults, potential repairs required, estimated service costs and practical maintenance advice.
It said that the tool improved on counting on service history reports and MOT records by predicting future vehicle reliability and flagging potential faults before they occurred.
Marcus Gregory, chief executive at Payment Assist, said: “With the cost-of-living crisis hitting household budgets hard, vehicle maintenance costs have gotten a serious concern. Data suggests that more drivers than ever are skipping MOTs and avoiding service reminders to swerve expensive repairs.
“With Get to Know Your Automobile, we wanted to offer an easy technique to take the guesswork out of auto ownership. By providing detailed insight into the repairs that cars are more likely to need in the longer term, we aim to assist motorists make informed decisions and budget more fastidiously.”
Vic Barodia, chief executive and co-founder at Should I Buy This Automobile, the platform behind Get to Know Your Automobile, said: “I genuinely consider this changes the conversation around automobile ownership. People spend 1000’s of kilos buying a automobile, yet many don’t know what it could cost them over the subsequent few years.
“Working with Payment Assist makes perfect sense because we’re driven by the identical ambition. They’re helping motorists take control of the financial side of auto ownership, while we’re helping them take control of the sensible side.
“Together, we’re giving drivers the arrogance to make higher decisions, budget more effectively and avoid those dreaded ‘I wish I’d known that sooner’ moments.”
This Article First Appeared At www.am-online.com
