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What Happens In Vegas...
…stays in Vegas? We're going to go against that old adage for a moment as we recap our trip to
NADA last month. Besides allowing us to escape the Iowa winter for a weekend, the NADA convention
is a fact finding mission where we research and seek out strategic partners or products that fit
in with our mission. Mining potential acquisitions, partnerships and products is an ongoing
process and in the past, has led to alignments with companies like Jato Dynamics. Working with
Dan Krease of Jato Dynamics, we were able to improve the features and functionality of New Car
Showcase. Other recent partnerships involved Polk Data and Evox. All of this is done to fortify
our Web systems and give dealerships a competitive edge. With Las Vegas in the rear view mirror,
we're negotiating with companies to be the first to bring new products to market. Watch for an
update soon.
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We've Got Wyoming Covered-With Fremont Motors
With six dealership throughout Wyoming, Fremont Motors covers a lot of territory. The challenge
of supporting the online systems for the dealer with the largest inventory in the state now falls
on Dealer Impact. "We're still learning about every option we have with the new system," said
Darwin Dammer, Marketing Manager for Fremont Motors. They have plenty, including Portable Auto
Manager, the PDA they're using to easily upload photos of their inventory to both their website
and newspapers in which they advertise. "That cut out another step in the process which was very
time consuming," said Dammer. "This is a less cumbersome system that allows us to give more
complete information about our inventory." Dammer says the biggest surprise is their new website
getting 300 unique visitors per day before the new site was announced. "It's amazing how many
people use the Internet out here. It really gives us the opportunity to put up a unique message."
www.fremontmotors.com
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The Need For Speed
(From USA TODAY) Rob Tuck was minding his own business, driving his paid-for 1998 Ford F-150
pickup past the Chevrolet dealership, when he spied a year-old Corvette on the lot. On a whim,
he took a test drive, whipping the Corvette up to 90 mph on the freeway entrance ramp. "I was
hooked. The car is fantastic," says Tuck, 37, of Lancaster, Calif. He bought the Corvette "based
entirely on its speed and power."
more
Internet Buying Increases:
Faster Internet Connections Cited
(From Investor's Business Daily) U.S. consumers spent $17.2 billion buying goods online in the
fourth quarter, up 25% from a year ago. The e-tail industry has continually posted double-digit
growth rates since Commerce started tracking the sector in late 1999. The sampling takes into
account online retailers, as well as online auctions and car sales. "Sales and profits in online
retailing are hitting a point where proponents of the technology are getting a seat in the
corporate boardroom of big retailers," said Patti Freeman Evans, an analyst at Jupiter Research.
Moreover, she said, retailers are getting savvier at mining data from their Web sites and using
it to adjust how and what they sell at their physical store locations.
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Lori Mooney
Dealer Impact employees are no strangers to business travel, but they usually leave the flying to the pilots.
Working with Fremont Motors gave Lori Mooney the chance to actually take the controls. "I
actually got to fly a plane for the first time, but could barely hold onto the controls since
my palms were sweating so much," said Mooney. The auto group in Wyoming uses a Beechcraft
airplane when their management wants to make the trip between dealerships, some of which are
hundreds of miles apart. Mooney made several site visits with them recently. "I saw a lot of
mountains and beautiful country and pretty much the whole state by air - now that is the way to
travel!"
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