Cars.com today announced that its various commercial brands will come together under the new enterprise brand name, Cars Commerce. This change aims to enhance its platform strategy and better connect the industry with a simplified and tierless technology that spans pretail, retail, and post-sale activities.
“The automotive industry has two critical, yet solvable, issues that directly impact the consumer: unnecessary complexity within retail operations and a battle between OEMs and retailers for customer control,” said Alex Vetter, chief executive officer of Cars Commerce.
“Cars Commerce brings consumers, OEMs, retailers, and lenders together to speed up operations, deliver more sales at greater profitability, and reduce a dealer’s turn time by up to 20%,” he added.
Cars Commerce is focused on simplifying car buying and selling by eliminating complexity and increasing transparency throughout the local retail experience.
The new enterprise brand name comes with a portfolio organized by four core capabilities:
- Marketplace: Central to the platform is Cars.com, its role supports the pretail experience, allowing OEMs and retailers to merchandise inventory and promote their brand experience to 27 million in-market shoppers each month. Integrated into the marketplace is the company’s reputation technology that powers more than 13 million consumer reviews as well as digital financing and trade-in capabilities that speed transaction time with local retailers.
- Digital Experience: Dealer Inspire is a preferred provider with nearly every OEM. Dealer Inspire websites and technology include integrated reviews, AI-powered chat tools, instant financing, vehicle acquisition technology, and a fast user experience.
- Trade and Appraisal: Integrated into both the Cars.com marketplace and Dealer Inspire websites is Accu-Trade, a data and technology provider that puts the right valuation on any vehicle. Nearly half of car buyers have a trade-in prior to purchase, and Accu-Trade speeds transaction time by enabling instant, digital offers for consumers. It also equips everyone in the dealership to complete an appraisal in under five minutes. Through nearly 600,000 appraisals completed this year, Accu-Trade has identified more than $30 million of potential savings in appraisal losses for dealers.
- Media: Cars Commerce Media Network is a new brand that encompasses all of the company’s media products, including Cars Social, FUEL IMV, and its national advertising solutions. The company’s new retail media network allows OEMs and retailers to reach in-market consumers while they are shopping. Cars Commerce inventory search ads drive a 56% lower cost-per-lead compared to Google, and when combining its video, social, and display media products together customers gain a 32% increase in direct referrals to dealer websites.
“We have built a platform with a differentiated and powerful combination of audience, reviews and content, technology and data – and there’s a word for it: Commerce,” said Vetter. “Cars Commerce affirms our strategic evolution and signals our continued commitment to unite the industry with a connected platform of technology solutions.”
