[auto - moto] Cox Automotive Launches End-To-End Car Retail Experience

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Cox Automotive has rolled out its Complete Retail online experience, which lets merchants and shoppers finish the shopping and purchasing processes in any location. The company says it is situated to link each step of the deal process, including “start, flow, sign and close,” according to a Monday (Jan. 25) announcement. Lori Wittman, senior vice president, dealer software solutions at Cox Automotive, said in the announcement that retailers and shoppers have requested the ability to start and finish the car purchasing experience from anywhere, without needing to start over or input data again at any point during the process. Wittman said the new offering makes that possible. “Complete Retail isn't just software; it's progress toward the future that only Cox Automotive could bring together in one place,” Wittman said in the announcement. As it collects consumer information and activity from Kelley Blue Book, Autotrader and dealer websites, the Cox Automotive Complete Retail portfolio could potentially initiate start almost three out of four car purchases, the release stated. According to the announcement, Complete Retail is the first “end-to-end retail experience to bear the Cox Automotive name." Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Georgia-based Cox Enterprises Inc., which has an annual revenue of almost $20 billion. Its collection of brands include Kelley Blue Book, Dealer.com and Autotrader, among others. Of all the businesses that have embraced the digital shift amid COVID-19, the country’s auto industry has been among the most transformational. As COVID has accelerated the trends that were already in motion, Aaron Krane, chief executive officer of digital auto platform Modal, said that dealers have embraced the digital future. “You don't sell a car in 2020; the customer buys it,” Krane said in a recent chat with PYMNTS. “Because dealers haven't been given adequate online tools to empower their customers and drive the deal, dealers still have to try to sell, and that's just not the modern way of operating a retail business – and dealers get this.”