December 27, 2017 12:00 AM

Darwin Online offers a next step toward digital F&I

Phillip Battista, CEO of F&I software company Darwin Automotive, is trying to get the car-buying process as close to an Amazon experience as possible for customers who want that option.

To make the F&I process more digital, Darwin launched Darwin Online last month. Dealerships using the tool can add a widget to their websites that enables customers to finance vehicles and add accurately priced F&I products to their shopping carts. Dealerships input pricing and F&I product information so that customers can work with Darwin Online around the clock.

About 100 of Darwin's 2,000 dealership clients use Darwin Online, Battista said.

"We don't know what subset of the market wants to do a complete transaction [online], but there is definitely a subset that wants it," Battista told Automotive News. "We think it will just get better and better and better over time."

Adam Kraushaar, president of Lester Glenn Auto Group in Toms River, N.J., plans to implement Darwin Online at its eight rooftops by Jan. 1 to adapt to the coming change in auto retail, he said.

"Darwin Online is not the big change itself. It's a response to a big change in the market," he said.

To start, the group will have a limited selection of F&I products for which customers will be able to view accurate prices and add to their shopping carts.

"The whole point of this tool is to increase the level of transparency and the degree to which a person can consummate a purchase," Kraushaar said.

Early product exposure

More than 142 F&I product providers are integrated into Darwin Online, and the widget connects with dealerships' websites without integration into the dealer management system, according to a company statement. Darwin Online relies on a proprietary 50-state tax database and a nationwide database of incentives with lease and finance rates to accurately quote customers.

The dealership inputs pricing information so that the platform provides accurate payments that "match the dealership's DMS to the penny," the statement said.

Dealerships "have total control over our applications, which is the thing that dealers were missing and afraid of [losing]," Battista said.

Most customers say if they were educated on F&I products before visiting the dealership, they'd be more likely to buy the products, Battista said.

"Why wouldn't you educate your customers upfront so that when they come in you're protecting that profitability?" Battista said.

Dealers can choose whether to provide only F&I product information online or allow customers to add F&I products to their shopping carts. Transactions are completed in-store, Battista said.

How it works

Darwin uses a set of algorithms to support a prescriptive selling approach. It analyzes customers' responses to a set of questions, the deal information, ownership history and other details in the dealership management system. Then it gives the customer a Driver's Needs Analysis, which scores F&I products based on the customer's needs and the likelihood that he or she will buy those products.

"We remove the dealership from [making] the customer … trust and believe" that he or she would benefit from a certain F&I product, Battista said. "We take all the good data out there and say, 'In this particular situation, this is what you need.' "

Darwin Online won't recommend unnecessary products, he added.

Even if customers don't add F&I products to their carts, when the F&I manager discusses the products with them in person, it's not the first time they have heard about them. With Darwin Online, Battista said, customers ask the F&I manager about products the system recommended to them and buy them at the store.