Overview
Showroom Dealmaker is a new in-store product that fosters collaboration between sales agents and consumers, side by side, to close deals. Integrated with DealerHome (dealer-facing) and BuyNow (consumer-facing), Showroom Dealmaker ensures a seamless experience. If consumers initiate the car-buying process at home with BuyNow and then visit dealerships, Showroom Dealmaker retains all the data entered, enabling consumers to pick up where they left off. Similarly, if consumers need to leave the dealership, they can continue the process at home using BuyNow. This product also facilitates communication between sales agents and managers without leaving consumers alone, enhancing efficiency and providing a better experience for both dealer agents and consumers.
Team
Product Managers
Design Manager
Product Designer
Engineering Team
Sales Team
Marketing Team
My Role
Product Designer
Design Process
Requisite Reinforced - User Research & Competitors Research - Define Problem & Propose Solution - Dealer Persona and Consumer Persona - NADA Show - Use Cases - Design System - Interface Design - Develop - Beta Test - New Feature
1. Requisite Reinforced
Some of manufacturers plan to mandate a showroom tool.
This would result in losing many of our partnered dealers, and those manufacturers currently capture 25% of the US market.
2. User Research & Competitors Research
To identify user's pain points and plan for the MVP
Due to the tight timeframe, we decided to divide and conquer. Product Managers visited dealerships to discover dealers' pain points, while designers experienced competitors' showroom tools by visiting dealerships as consumers, identifying consumers' pain points in a real environment.
Consumer Pain Points
Dealership Pain Points
3. Define Problem & Propose Solution
Problem Statement
Modern car-buying processes typically start online and finalize at dealerships. However, existing tools suffer from disorganization, and the communication between sales agents and managers is inefficient. This inefficiency leads to delays and frustrations for both dealerships and consumers.
Solution Statement
Showroom Dealmaker seamlessly blends the virtual and in-store showroom experiences, allowing consumers to effortlessly pick up where they left off online. With instant access to the deal jacket and provided information, consumers experience a smooth transition. Sales agents and managers can communicate seamlessly through Showroom Dealmaker, maintaining transparency in deal terms and fostering increased consumer trust.
4-1. Dealer Persona
4-2. Consumer Persona
5. NADA Show
NADA (National Automobile Dealers Association) Show
a significant annual event where automotive SaaS companies showcase their new products to dealerships from across the USA
Preparation Timeline
To plan our presentation
As our team prepared for Showroom Dealmaker, the NADA Show was approaching. CarNow decided to present Showroom Dealmaker to communicate our vision and gather feedback. With just a little over a month left until the NADA Show, timeline planning became crucial.
User Flow
For a solid cornerstone
The design team, product team, sales team, and marketing team collaborated to create the user flow.
Presentation
To showcase our upcoming innovation to our potential customers
Our initial plan was to introduce a new design scheme for Showroom Dealmaker. However, due to the limited timeframe, we opted to use existing DealerHome design assets to create a high-fidelity wireframe. We checked in the wireframe with the sales team and marketing team, and after receiving confirmation from them, I developed a clickable prototype. I recorded a video of the prototype click-through and sent the recording to the marketing team. They edited the video, and the sales team showcased Showroom Dealmaker using the edited recording at the NADA Show.
We showcased the seamless transition of a consumer from online to in-store, also illustrated how sales agent can communicate with sales manager without leaving the consumer. Additionally, our potential customers observed the capability to re-engage a consumer who had left the store with our solution.
Reactions
A huge win for CarNow
Showroom Dealmaker received the most attention at the show and garnered the largest amount of positive press releases afterward. Additionally, one of the largest dealer groups decided to switch to our products at the show.
6. Use Cases
In preparation for diverse scenarios,
We created two use cases: one for a consumer who initiates digital retail at home using BuyNow and visits the dealership to finalize the process, and another for a consumer who walks into the dealership without any prior digital retail activity at home.
7. Design System
To make consistent experience,
I developed design system.
8. Interface Design
For more intuitive and improved user experience
Design
While Showroom Dealmaker serves both dealers and consumers, the sales agent takes the lead in guiding the entire session, with the consumer following along. The consumer can witness everything the sales agent does on-screen, fostering transparency and trust. Unlike dealer-facing products, we eliminated all abbreviations, ensuring consumers understand without needing to inquire, thereby minimizing potential confusion. The design style is more minimal and friendly compared to dealer-facing products, creating a comfortable experience for the consumer.
Welcome
The Welcome page is the initial page that both a sales agent and a consumer encounter upon opening Showroom Dealmaker. It is designed to provide the sales agent with an overview of the consumer's position in the buying process, evoke the consumer's desire to purchase the car, and create excitement through appealing car images. Dealerships can use their own images or choose from provided stock images.
The page has two variations: one for new consumers without any progress, offering options to search inventory or go through a discovery questionnaire, and another for returning consumers, providing a summarized progress overview for quick understanding by sales agents.
New Consumer
Returning Consumer
Discovery Questionnaire
The Discovery Questionnaire page guides the consumer and the sales agent through a series of questions about the desired vehicle and the consumer's current vehicle. Once all questions are answered, they see pre-filtered inventory based on their responses. The responses are saved in DealerHome, allowing sales managers to view them.
As the sales agent and the consumer progress through steps in Showroom Dealmaker, updates are reflected in the 'Happening Now' section in DealerHome, enabling sales managers to monitor the process from their offices.
Flow
Design
Inventory, Vehicle Comparison
For the Inventory page, our team debated between a list view and a tile view but couldn't settle on one. To determine the more preferable option for users, we conducted user interviews with both dealer users and consumers. The results showed that over 90% of dealer users prefer the list view, and 80% of consumers prefer the tile view. Based on these findings, we decided to incorporate both views, allowing users to switch between them as needed.
Vehicle Detail
The Vehicle Detail page displays key information, including features, specifications, and options. Users can initiate a deal or start a test drive for the selected vehicle from this page.
Test Drive
When the sales agent and the consumer go for a test drive, they will see this screen with a timer starting from 00:00, allowing the sales agent to track the duration of the test drive. Additionally, there is a Vehicle Details section for the sales agent to provide information about the car or answer any questions.
Consumer Profile
The Consumer Profile page highlights the consumer's completed actions and remaining steps. Users can efficiently edit payments from this page.
Consumer Profile - Trade-In
All step detail pages, including Trade-In, Payments, and others, feature main action items on the left and a Deal Detail panel on the right (collapsed for tablet and mobile views). The Deal Detail panel updates breakdowns and total payments as users progress through the steps.
Unique Trade-In pages were designed for each trade provider due to variations in information and assets from different providers.
Consumer Profile - Payments
There are two types of Payments screens. One is the single payment view aligned with BuyNow, which consumers are more familiar with, and the other is the multi-payment view aligned with Desking, which is more familiar to sales agents. Dealerships can switch between views using a toggle on the top right, or they can set to show only one view in the config settings.
The Payments page has the same Deal Detail panel as others, but a Rebate tab appears that is only relevant for the Payments page.
On the DealerHome side, we set standard durations for each step, and when it goes over that duration, the timer turns red to visually warn the sales manager who is monitoring consumers in-store from his office.
Communication
Communication is the most critical feature of Showroom Dealmaker. This feature seamlessly connects the manager's office and the sales desk, ensuring that the sales agent does not have to leave a consumer alone to talk to the sales manager.
Although it is a communication feature, it was not designed for full conversations. Since a consumer is sitting and waiting next to the sales agent, communication should be short and clear. To achieve that goal, I created a flow where the sales agent can choose a category that they need help with, and more specific assist options appear with an additional info text box, aiming to minimize typing.
Consumer Profile - Others
Exit
When the consumer leaves the store, the sales agent can go through the Exit flow. In the Exit flow, the sales agent can see the Deal Jacket on the right panel as an overview of the session and record the consumer's current status as of leaving the store on the main panel. Follow-up emails or text messages with various templates based on leaving status can be generated and sent from here. This follow-up allows the consumer to pick up where they left off at home using BuyNow or present the QR code received from the email when they revisit the store.
9. Develop
To test cross-platform functionality,
our engineers developed it for beta testing, allowing us to assess the seamless integration between Showroom Dealmaker and other products such as DealerHome and BuyNow.
10. Beta Test
To observe real-world usage,
we conducted a beta test at selected dealerships. While the feedback was generally positive, we identified a need for a new significant feature.
11. Adding New Feature
For the Finishing Touch
Sealed Deal
When the consumer accepts an offer, no further changes can be made except for uploading documents or adding protection packages. If the consumer makes changes, the accepted offer becomes invalid. During the beta test, we discovered that there is no guardrail to prevent this in Showroom Dealmaker.
After the beta test, product managers, engineers, and I virtually met every day to brainstorm on how to solve the problem. As we discussed, I roughly designed our ideas in real-time for better visualization of ideas and quicker decision-making. As a solution, we added glass overlays on uneditable steps, visually indicating that the consumer has to unseal to void the accepted offer and make changes. Additionally, a modal pops up when the consumer clicks the 'Unseal Quote' button, acting as a final hurdle to discourage the consumer from unsealing.
Conclusion
Showroom Dealmaker achieved tremendous success in the market. Mazda selected CarNow as its preferred partner for its Mazda Digital Showroom program, and FordDirect partnered with CarNow to implement CarNow's retail products in Ford dealerships and Lincoln retailers. Another confidential OEM has chosen CarNow as their exclusive showroom program for their dealerships. We are currently in the process of fine-tuning the workflow to finalize the contract.
If you like what you see and want to work together, get in touch!
designbk4@gmail.com