CarWoo!'s Dealer Plus Enables $4.5B In New Car Sales For Dealers

BURLINGAME, Calif. and LAS VEGAS, Oct. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- CarWoo! announces general availability of its CarWoo! Dealer Plus™ product to help dealers sell more cars and provide the best online experience for buyers while simultaneously eliminating the "race to the bottom" enabling them to hold their margins.  Driving incremental traffic as well as increasing Internet Lead and Be-Back close ratios, it provides actionable information and insights from the CarWoo! MarketPlace. Dealer Plus equips Internet Departments to address the online buying requirements of Gen Y. These buyers, who represent over $4.5B of car sales this year, require that dealers continually improve their online practices, earn positive customer reviews through professional engagement and generally provide the ideal online shopping experience.

"We believe that Dealer Plus completely changes the Internet Sales landscape," says CarWoo! CEO, Tommy McClung.  "CarWoo! is unique in that we provide the best experience for the buyer and the dealer, and no other company or service achieves that.  By providing complete transparency throughout the online process, we ensure that dealers are not required to engage in a race to the bottom and that they can win by being professional, responsive and by providing a price that is simply competitive."

"With this product we provide dealers with all the tools necessary to provide the best online experience with real-time tips and guidance for improvement. We also bridge the internet department and showroom floor with the Be-Back Saver which allows dealers to capture and close those elusive Be-Backs and also the tools to transparently and effectively engage Internet shoppers.  Today, Gen Y represents 25% of new car buyers and over 50% of them would prefer to shop entirely online.  Dealer Plus provides the exact tools required for successful selling to this $4.5B segment," adds McClung.

"CarWoo! absolutely got it right with this product," says Mark Rikess, Founder and CEO of The Rikess Group.  "They had a great start with their basic CarWoo! Marketplace product and Dealer Plus extends online sales capabilities in a direction and with an effectiveness that no else can even come close to.  This is definitely a real game changer."

While the CarWoo! MarketPlace remains free to dealers and dealers will still be notified of buyers in their area who have paid to participate in the MarketPlace, Dealer Plus participants see additional buyers who select them because of their improved star ratings.  Key features of CarWoo! Dealer Plus include:

• Dealer Plus Engage:
  • 25 CarWoo! buyers per month after 60 days
  • Unique URL for Be-Backs and Internet Leads offering CarWoo! at no charge to the buyer and complete transparency to the dealer
• Enhanced dealer and dealership profiles which support unique marketing copy and photo uploads
• Review reconciliation by a dealership expert (i.e. a Customer Service Specialist)
• Advanced training and achievement distinction
• CarWoo! personal courtesy action reminders
• DealerInsights throughout the product providing:
  • Actionable information as to how to improve performance and ranking
  • Specific information about which deals are about to close and which offers are most interesting to the buyer (the "InterestBar™" and "Deal Heat™")
• Account Owner, Salesperson, Reputation Management and other roles providing different in product views
• The ability to flag suspicious offers to eliminate less reputable dealers from the MarketPlace
• The Be Back saver to allow retention of hard to close price shoppers by providing an online shopping solution for the buyer

McClung continues, "Since its inception, CarWoo! has been about real innovation in the automotive industry and about enabling the best online car buying and selling experience.  Over 10,000 dealers have validated our initial concepts and we have over fifty dealers who have worked with us through the early days of Dealer Plus.  We are excited to be releasing this product to the general dealer community."

CarWoo!'s Dealer Plus is available nationally and for all makes.

"I was a participant in the CarWoo! MarketPlace from very nearly the beginning, and I have always thought it was a great place to meet real buyers and sell cars," says Owner and General Manager of St. Augustine Hyundai, Andrew DiFeo.  "Dealer Plus has made my team's job easier, while also helping us sell even more cars.  The combination of the insights with the Interest Bar and Deal Heat, the ability to really differentiate my store with my enhanced profile, and then to bring the internet to the floor with the Be Back Saver, makes selling cars simple.  This is just another great product from CarWoo!."

Dealer Plus is available today for the general Dealer community with introductory pricing of $499 per month per franchise.  CarWoo! is presenting Dealer Plus at the Digital Dealer Exposition in Booth 1211, with their annual party to be held Thursday evening in The Paradise Cafe at the Mirage Hotel.

About CarWoo!

CarWoo!, as seen on The Today Show, CNN Money and other leading national media outlets, is the only true online marketplace for car buyers and sellers.  In the CarWoo! marketplace buyers remain anonymous, get great market prices, save a ton of time and dealers are ensured buyers who purchase within 3.5 days 80% of the time.  It was founded in 2008 by serial entrepreneurs, Tommy McClung, Erik Landerholm and Michael Young. With early funding by Y Combinator, CarWoo! is based in Burlingame, CA and is now funded by Blumberg Capital, Comcast Interactive Capital and Interwest Partners. Find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/carwoo and on Twitter at twitter.com/carwoo.

SOURCE CarWoo!