Technology is a driving factor in our lives today, and the menu market is no different. Consumers have access to it in their personal lives, and use it to research everything from the food they eat to the big-ticket purchases - like cars - that they make. Many of them are getting to a point where they even make those purchases online, via companies like Peapod.com, or from dealerships that offer Internet purchasing.
What that means to the average dealer - and agent - is that consumers today live on their technology. They trust it, they purchase on it, and they are getting to a point where they are more comfortable with it than they are with older, paper systems. They will gravitate and trust dealerships and products that are presented to them in a format they are already comfortable with, making the process smoother, and putting them in a less defensive, more open to buying state of mind.
To facilitate this transition to the new mobile menu world, we invited several players in the mobile menu software business to give us a little information about their products, and some insight into where they see the market going. While they range in opinion as to whether dealerships should hand an iPad over to the customer to walk themselves through a presentation, or whether the F&I manager should keep control of the process, they all agree that the platform itself is the future of the business.
Digital is shaping the future of almost every industry, and ours, in particular, is starting to see the beginnings of a revolution in what consumers want out of a vehicle, but more than that, they want the process of purchasing it to feel like it belongs in the age of Internet shopping and digital downloading. By providing agents, and through them dealerships, with the tools to meet this consumer need head on, the whole industry will win with happier customers and increased sales.
To read about each product, and how each of these companies sees the future of F&I menus, click on their name below.
Mobile Menu Roundup
IAS
Matt Nowicki, Vice President, Retail Software IAS
1. Please give a brief overview of your mobile offering.
We have two different mobile offerings: one of them is an interactive F&I interview and survey application called SmartPad. The other is an extension to our SmartMenu desktop application called Interactive Menu.
The Impact Group
Mark Thorpe, President The Impact Group Inc.
1. Please give a brief overview of your mobile offering.
Since Impact’s beginning, we have developed our applications with a belief in the importance of technology in the F&I process, and with the future of technology in our business constantly in mind. As we all know, the “mobile menu” has become a hot topic in our industry over the last several months.
iTapMenu
Shawn McCool, Game Changer iTapMenu
1. Please give a brief overview of your mobile offering.
iTapMenu is an all-new version of the F&I menu utilized on the iPad. The patented application provides an industry exclusive menu structure and true "drag and drop" capabilities with instant calculations.
MaximTrak Technologies
Jim Maxim Jr., President MaximTrak Technologies
1. Please give a brief overview of your mobile offering.
MobileTrak is an enterprise level mobile solution for the F&I Industry. It enables Dealers and F&I Managers to cut the cords from the “traditional” F&I Office while making presentations, handling objections and contracting F&I business. MobileTrak leverages the MaximTrak platform in a mobile-optimized offering for dealerships, agents and administrative companies.
MenuSys LLC
Erick Woods, President MenuSys LLC
1. Please give a brief overview of your mobile offering.
The MenuSys Tablet Experience brings together many critical selling tools; these features are designed specifically for tablet computers. Included are customer interviews, product sales charts (VSC, GAP), brochures, a drawing pad for adding your own unique touch and, most importantly, it features the Tablet Menu.
Ristken Software Services
Patrick DeMarco, President Ristken Software Services
1. Please give a brief overview of your mobile offering.
Ristken is currently deploying a multi-module, multi-phase technology platform named iCollaborate. This platform is designed to extend the existing functionality of Ristken’s platforms while at the same time enhancing and adding functionality that is well suited to leverage the emerging mobile, tablet and “kiosk-like” platforms.
