By the end of 2022, Trader Interactive expects to be able to provide a platform RV dealers can use to sell RVs entirely online to consumers.
The end-to-end platform takes consumers from an interest in a vehicle through buyers orders and deliveries. The digital retailing (DR) initiative was rolled out by Trader Interactive last month on its Cycle Trader site for motorcycles. Troy Snyder, vice president of digital retailing for Trader Interactive, said the platform next will be available through RV Trader’s site for RV dealers.
The RV dealer functionality is expected to be launched by the end of 2022.
“Our first target is dealers already in the marketplace listing vehicles for sale,” Snyder said. “When these dealers are onboarded, they are one click away from activating that listing for digital retailing. Once we have their specifics, activation is just a click.”
Interest from motorcycle dealers has been strong, Snyder said. He said dealers have appreciated the best lead and consumer detail Trader Interactive has yet provided them and they are excited about the opportunity.
“We have taken on the technical complexity to make this as Amazon-like a purchase for any vehicle that we possibly could,” Snyder said.
The platform requires consumers to provide their ZIP code during purchase. The information enables Trader Interactive’s digital partners, whom Snyder declined to name, the ability to compliantly compute city-level taxes, title and fees, he said.
“These are true, signable buyers orders between a buyer and dealer,” he said. “To have penny-accurate orders, you have to compliantly compute city level fees and dealer fees, and you need information like ZIP codes to make that happen.”
The platform will ask for and handle potential trade-ins during the transaction. Trader Interactive asks condition-based questions to determine a potential trade-in value. Snyder said 12 months of dealer advisory committee meetings determined the questions dealers ask to arrive at trade-in valuations.
The platform prompts consumers to upload specific pictures of the vehicle and will provide a trade-in range from JD Power.
Throughout the purchase transaction, the platform will send details of each step to the dealer’s RV Trader dashboard. Called Trader Traxx, the active lead information will give dealers the chance to watch transactions live as they progress through the dashboard.
Phase 2 of the implementation will incorporate lending options and F&I choices. Snyder said the platform will ask whether consumers are paying cash, need financing or have financing. If consumers need financing, RV Trader will connect consumers with lenders in each dealer’s lender stack, he said.
“We’re not going to force a dealer to partner with a Trader Interactive lender they do not do business with,” he said. “The ultimate goal is to have a full credit application with an instant lender response baked in.”
F&I options also will be available, specific to each lender, when the functionality is added.
Trader Interactive next will ask for delivery options, whether consumers will pick up the vehicle, take advantage of free local dealer delivery within a certain mile range, or have Trader Interactive ship the vehicle nationwide.
Once delivery is set, the consumer is asked to schedule their transaction. Finally, a deal summary including all line items – down to the penny – is shown. Consumers can digitally sign the documents. In Phase 2 of the platform, Trader Interactive expects to launch payment capabilities through ACH or credit cards.
“If you signal you are interested in purchasing online,” Snyder said, “we are attempting to digitize the entire sales process, as well as digitizing the finance process.”
Candace Isom, marketing director at America’s Motor Sports, Nashville, said the motorcycle dealership signed on to Cycle Trader’s DR platform as soon as it was available.
“Twenty years ago, relatively few motorcycle dealers considered online marketplaces to be an essential part of their sales strategy,” Isom said. “Today, it is a cornerstone of the business, and that is where digital retailing will be in a few years,” said Isom, “I am confident that the faster purchasing experience available to shoppers will pay off both in terms of operational efficiencies and closed sales.”
Snyder said Trader Interactive built the platform to provide additional opportunities for dealers and consumers, partnering with dealers rather than replacing current activities.
“We didn’t want this just to be a super lead provider,” he said.
The platform will enable consumers to stop at any point in the purchase process and pick up where they left off – except if the consumer stops in the middle of digitally signing. Snyder said that gives consumers the chance to get through most of the process and finish in person at a dealership. It also could enable the dealer to use the platform on-site with consumers.
“If the tool works for the dealer and they are already a dealer partner, the dealer could pull up the platform at the dealership and the consumer can do it themselves,” he said. “You can get that omnichannel experience on-site. You could pull it up on a kiosk the dealership sets up. All of the mechanisms and functions will operate the same.”
