Dealertrack, with the launch last week of its uniFI dealership management and F&I software product, is looking to streamline dealer workflows and shorten the amount of time it takes to buy a car.
A Cox Automotive study published in July found that dealership personnel uses an average of six platforms to complete a deal and that a customer spends an average of three hours at the dealer purchasing an automobile.
The Dealertrack’s uniFI platform integrates the various systems dealers use for handling credit checks, loan applications, taxes, titles, and trade-ins and is designed to speed up the purchase process. So, instead of switching between screens and rekeying data, the dealer can use uniFI as a central platform that pulls in all a customer’s information and then easily navigates through each aspect of the purchase.
“Dealerships don’t want the consumer to have a three-hour process, the consumer doesn’t want this either. We thought about a platform that could help make the car buying experience much more efficient, and shorten the time period,” said Cheryl Miller, vice president, and general manager F&I solutions at Cox Automotive, Dealertrack’s parent company. The uniFI product also can increase a dealer’s competitiveness, she said, because consumers that have a good experience are likely to return the next time they’re shopping for a car.
The uniFI product, which first piloted in June 2017, is currently available as a SaaS.
