Dealership Technology or DealerTech mainly describes software applications used by vehicle dealers to run their retail operations. Although some solutions are found in other verticals, most DealerTech apps are specifically designed for dealerships-only.
ADP Dealer Services (now CDK Global) and Universal Computer Systems (UCS) – now The Reynolds and Reynolds Company (R&R) had dominated the market for DealerTech in North America for many years. What started as a narrow market for Dealership or Dealer Management Systems (DMS), has now branched into around 40 DealerTech categories.
On average, dealers employ 10-15 DealerTech vendors at the same time. The actual number of DealerTech applications per dealership rooftop is likely higher. Most DealerTech vendors offer packaged solutions with multiple integrated applications. For example, the same DealerTech provider could offer one Service Management suite with an online Service scheduling tool, a Service write-up system, and a Multi-Point Inspection tool. All of those layered applications, however, could also be sourced individually by different vendors. In an effort to add structure, we can group dealership technology vendors after their MAIN use in the respective dealership functions or departments as outlined below.
DealerTech Clients:
- Franchised New Car and Independent Used Car dealers
- Light Vehicle and Heavy-duty truck dealers
- Fleet dealers
- Motorcycle dealers
- Powersports and marine/boat dealers
- Recreational vehicle (RV) dealers
- Trailer dealers
- Agriculture/farm equipment dealers
- Construction equipment dealers
- Outdoor power equipment dealers
General Management & Business Office DealerTech:
The Business Office’s main task is managing secondary business functions like accounting and Human Capital Management (HCM). Naturally, we include Business Office-specific tools in this category like Dealership Intelligence applications, Dealership Payment tools, and HCM solutions. In this DealerTech category, we also include general management applications like the DMS where the accounting and basic reporting features are housed.
While the DMS is used by almost every dealership staff member in their respective job, the primary users for dealership Business Office applications are: Dealers and Owners, Dealer Principals (DP), General Managers (GM), Chief Executive Officers (CEO), Dealership Chief Operating Officers (COO), Dealership Chief Financial Officers (CFO), Controllers, Office Managers, accounting and billing clerks, Dealership Chief People Officers (CPO), HR managers and dealership payroll clerks, Dealership Chief Information Officers (CIO), IT Directors and IT Managers, DMS managers, and DMS admins.
General Management & Business Office DealerTech:
This group of departments handles all sales, marketing and Finance and Insurance (F&I) activities. Naturally, as a retail business model, a lot of the attention and resources from dealers and Dealer Service Providers (DSP) are directed to improve the Front-End performance.
Primary users for this array of Front-End apps are Chief Revenue Officers (CRO) and Chief Marketing Officers (CMO), General Sales Managers (GSM), sales managers, sales and leasing consultants and associates/specialists, (certified) used car directors and used vehicle managers, used car/pre-owned sales managers and associates, Internet sales and Business Development Center (BDC) managers, commercial and fleet (sales) managers, F&I directors and F&I managers, F&I compliance officers, dealership marketing managers and digital marketing managers, accessories sales specialists, and customer/guest experience managers and specialists.
We separate Front-End applications as below:
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Sales Enablement
- Dealership Engagement tools
- Marketplaces and Classifieds
- Online Content and Website Management
- Digital Marketing and Advertising systems
- Social Media and Reputation Management tools
- Digital Retailing solutions
- Vehicle Inventory Management suites
- Digital Vehicle Merchandising systems
- Vehicle History Reports and Vehicle Data Aggregation tools
- Wholesale Auction and Trade tools
- Desking and Buy/Lease-Here Pay-Here (BHPH/LHPH) software
- Digital/eContracting and Credit/Compliance tools
- F&I Menu systems
- New Mobility tools
- Aftermarket Accessory tools
- Registration and Titling tools
Fixed Operations DealerTech:
Typical heavy users for solutions in this department are Fixed Ops directors, service directors, service managers and service advisors, shop foremen and dispatchers, fleet managers, rental/loaner managers and coordinators, parts directors, parts managers and parts countermen/advisors, logistics managers, wholesales parts specialists, parts warehouse managers and specialists, collision center directors, collision and body/repair shop managers, body shop clerks, service technicians, express lane/quick lube technicians, warranty advisors and specialists, cashiers, reconditioning and detail managers, and porters/greeters.
Hence, DealerTech software in this Fixed Op’s covers:
- Service Management suites
- Electronic Parts Catalogs (EPC)
- Parts Ecommerce and Wholesale systems
- Rental/Loaner and Fleet management applications
- Tire Management tools
- Shop Management solutions
- Connected Car and Telematics
- Mobile Car Care
- Reconditioning (recon) software
Dealership-Wide DealerTech:
In addition to software programs solely serving users in the Business Office, Front-End, and Fixed Operations, dealers also have access to DealerTech tools working across functions and departments. Also, these applications tend to be equipment-heavy. Some departments may use them more or less, however, they are exploited in a wider business sense.
User groups for dealership-wide applications can be found in all departments and are listed in the departments above.
Dealership-wide applications per our definition include:
- Dealership Conversational Applications applications
- Automotive Call Management
- Dealership Data Management and Collaboration technology
- Vehicle Key systems and Asset Management
- Dealership Document Management and Scanning (DDM) solutions
- Dealer IT
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