FordDirect has unveiled an e-commerce marketplace with software and service vendors curated to help the 3,000 Ford and Lincoln dealers it serves to streamline, modernize or do their jobs better.
Think “Etsy for dealerships” or the auto industry version of the App Store for mobile devices. Like those examples, The Shop platform organizes outside software but is targeted to dealers seeking to improve workflow or customer interactions. With an initial selection of eight companies, The Shop debuted Jan. 16 in a soft launch, featuring vendors in areas including business development, security compliance, credit pre-qualification, warranty processing and more. The Shop’s full-scale rollout will take place during the NADA Show.
“The Shop is an opportunity for us to bring new companies into the fold,” said FordDirect CEO Dean Stoneley. “It’s creating an online marketplace for dealers to be able to go and explore different solutions that are out there.”
FordDirect, of Dearborn, Mich., is a joint venture between Ford Motor Co. and its dealers. It was established in 2000 to provide digital marketing and advertising products and services for its Ford and Lincoln retailers. FordDirect created The Shop to give its customers something more immediate than its typical product roster, Stoneley said.
“What we wanted was something where we could be more quickly to market; so these [offerings] could be smaller companies, startups if you will, that we could bring into The Shop,” Stoneley said. “It also allows us to offer software solutions where we don’t currently have a [product].”
The Shop’s initial software offerings cover a wide variety of customer relationship management options:
- Better Car People, a business development center engagement platform.
- Comply Auto, a dealership compliance software platform for privacy, security, safety and human resources, finance and insurance and more.
- OfferLogix, a soft pull credit pre-qualification service.
- STELLA Automotive AI, maker of conversational artificial intelligence technology targeted to dealership operations, customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
- Velocity Automotive, maker of an automotive marketing platform.
- Volie, automotive call center software for dealership business development centers.
- WarrCloud, a warranty processing technology platform.
- Work Truck Solutions, commercial truck and van digital marketing and inventory merchandising tools.
By joining The Shop, these companies gain access to Ford and Lincoln dealers, Stoneley said. The selected companies provide a revenue share known as a platform fee to FordDirect that lets them participate in The Shop. The fee structure is similar to what vendors pay on e-commece platforms such as Amazon, FordDirect said.
“We do run a business, and we want to be able to innovate and invest in order to do that; but it’s not about maximizing profit,” Stoneley said. “Our focus of this is really bringing choice and options to the dealers. That’s the goal of The Shop, so it’s not entirely different from our overall goal.”
Stella Automotive AI CEO Rich Sands said being part of The Shop is a great opportunity for the company.
“Joining forces with FordDirect for The Shop’s launch is a game-changer,” Sands said in a company statement.