Digital retailing doesn't bother dealers, but factory mandates do

Most Stellantis dealers are all-in on digital retailing — as long as they have a choice on what system to use.

More than 90 percent of the automaker's U.S. dealer network uses digital tools to sell vehicles online, including around 1,000 stores that adopted the E-Shop platform that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles rolled out last year in the early days of the pandemic, months before its merger with PSA Group.

But some mistakenly thought they had lost that freedom to choose after confusing messages on company calls with dealers gave the impression that E-Shop suddenly was being forced on them.

The brief uproar last month illustrates how much retailers value the ability to select what technologies work best for them — and the disdain they have for factory requirements to use a particular vendor.

Stellantis' dealer council chairman, Dave Kelleher, had a front-row seat to the mini uprising. He was bombarded with emails and calls from fellow retailers and had to explain that E-Shop, built by California software company Carzato, wasn't a mandatory tool.

The automaker had asked its regional business centers to encourage dealers to try the system, but it was purely optional. The automaker was offering the first month free, with no sign-up fee and the ability to quit at any time.

Stellantis' "heart was in the right place," Kelleher said. The company "thought it was doing what's good for the brand and the dealers."

One of the automaker's motivators in touting E-Shop, according to a presentation, was to create a more consistent branding experience across dealer websites. E-Shop also is the only tool integrated into Stellantis brand sites.

Yet wires got crossed, and many dealers believed E-Shop would be required. Stellantis, which confirmed in a statement that the platform is optional, said stores have a choice of 19 certified and qualified digital retailing tools from which to choose.

Kelleher said the communications mishap seemed to have occurred during some regional calls.

"I think the confusion was in certain business centers, because that's where I seemed to have gotten the feedback," Kelleher recalled. "I didn't get it from the whole country; I got it from select business centers."

Kelleher himself has been on a merry-go-round of digital retail platforms at his store, David Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram in Glen Mills, Pa., so he understands the importance of not being tied down to one provider.

When the pandemic hit, Kelleher sampled several online shopping offerings. He started off on the system FCA was pushing, then known as the Online Retail Experience and being offered to dealers for free for several months, before dabbling in a few options from other providers.

He eventually made his way back to the Carzato tool that had been rebranded as E-Shop.

The pandemic forced the automaker to pull up the release date to the spring when millions of consumers suddenly became confined to their homes.

FCA began a pilot of the online buying system during the fourth quarter of 2019 through Alfa Romeo brand and dealer websites "to collect information and make changes to improve consumer engagement and understand what was needed to improve the lead-to-sales close rates."

E-Shop enables consumers to begin the trade-in process, apply for credit, receive price and payment estimates and review service protection plan options before having a vehicle delivered to them.

Other features now include online chats and the ability to make test drive appointments and reservations. The reservations option is integrated with PayPal, so users can put down refundable deposits on their desired vehicles.

Kelleher, even though he wasn't using E-Shop at the time, gave the development team tips as they built and refined the tool. After trying out other systems, he set up a demo last year to get a better view of E-Shop, which had been beefed up with more features since he last used it.

Kelleher said he understands that Stellantis wants to get more dealers onto E-Shop to create a more cohesive customer experience but that successful dealers should be able to differentiate themselves if they have a formula that works. There are some stores, Kelleher said, that could probably improve their sales by jumping onto E-Shop.

"The innovation part of dealer individuality is primary to driving sales," Kelleher said. "But that said, there's a large portion of our dealers who aren't as innovative and they did not have competitive tools. This is a great tool for them and Chrysler has been able to provide it."