Gubagoo, which provides a chat, text and video platform for dealers, said this week that its adding retail capabilities to its service. The new features, which are now being piloted, are designed to allow car buyers to use Gubagoo to calculate payments, value trade-ins, apply for rebates, submit credit applications and purchase insurance.
The retail tool, called Gubagoo Virtual Retailing, will be added to the company’s existing Gubagoo platform. It can also be integrated with dealer listings on Facebook Marketplace. The company said the pilot is expected to end in late January.
With Gubagoo Virtual Retailing, Ryan Osten, Gubagoo’s general counsel, told Auto Finance News, “users can value their trade-in, they can apply rebates and incentives, they can add accessories and F&I products. We then package that deal up and the customer can do a full credit application within our experience and we push that deal through to the dealer’s financing application.”
Sales are enabled through Gugaboo partnerships with incumbent auto financing companies. The service also works with a number of Gubagoo’s partners. Dealertrack and RouteOne are used for payment, financing, and underwriting. Kelly Blue Book, Black Book, National Automobile Dealers Association, and TradePending are used for trade in valuations. The company works with over 100 providers for F&I.
Osten says the company handles upward of 40,000 chats per day and currently works with more than 4,000 dealer groups, including Asbury Automotive Group, and OEMs such as Toyota.
Osten said the new service is intended to help funnel customers through the car-buying process and increase the number of deals that are closed. “For traditional retailing apps, 80% of customers don’t get through the process,” Osten said. “We believe we can approve upon that 80%.”
