Technology Leads the Way
Success in the Wake of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has passed its one-year milestone. We applaud Lexus dealers nationwide for quickly embracing change in our industry and implementing new protocols to ensure employee and customer safety. You have also conquered the resulting business challenges with new technologies that enable contact-free transactions. The silver lining: these new technologies can help to improve order accuracy, streamline transactions and increase parts sales!
Embrace New Technology
Technology has transformed every part of our industry and will likely continue to create exciting new opportunities for our future. Lexus is proud to partner with several industry innovators in delivering wholesale parts business solutions to you. A number of new, cutting-edge technologies have helped catapult dealers into the future of parts procurement and delivery, including online electronic ordering platforms, touch-free delivery and online payment systems. Here are a few examples of how speed-to-market with new apps has helped dealers sustain business.
In a time when remote working became the new norm, Overall Parts Solutions (OPS) sped the release of TraxMobile™, which allows your wholesale customers to access the power of OPSTrax in the palm of their hands. Through their iOs or Android devices, shops can access all aspects of parts procurement remotely, from online ordering to shipment and delivery confirmations and return credits.
Touch-free delivery quickly became a necessity at the advent of COVID. Innovations like DeliveryTrax™ from OPS enables your Wholesale Parts Department to remotely assign parts deliveries to specific drivers’ routes and allows drivers to deliver parts efficiently without direct contact. Its mobile companion, TraxDrive™, allows drivers to document deliveries without direct customer contact. The app enables photo verification and delivery time stamp with geolocation.
Leap Outside the Box
While “unprecedented” was the U.S. media’s operative word in 2020, “innovation” was the response in our industry as dealerships sought new solutions for new challenges. A good example is wholesale parts delivery. The need to deliver wholesale parts to Independent Repair Facilities (IRFs) within a moment’s notice remained, but the drop in miles driven and unpredictable demand from IRF accounts impacted overhead expense.
Many dealerships turned to “gig delivery” as the solution, calling upon on-demand delivery services to provide efficient, contact-free delivery without the burden of payroll and other expenses. Although companies like Lyft and Uber provide such services, new service businesses who specialize in auto parts delivery appeared on the scene. Out of the rubble of the pandemic, the next generation of delivery and logistics grew.
Gear Up for Our Future
Lexus and Lexus Dealers have traditionally been adept at planning for the future—a future that is anticipated. 2020 taught us that the world can change radically in ways we had never imagined. The restrictions brought about from the “shutdown” showcased that embracing change and adapting to evolving business models to is the best way to prepare for our unpredictable changes in the future. What we do know is that advances in technology, like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), as well as the move toward an emissions-free future, will affect our business. The challenges of 2020 compelled us to be nimble and adapt to our changing world, a skill that will serve us well as we anticipate new opportunities and thrive in the years to come.
Lexus is committed to supporting you as our industry evolves. The LEXUS WIN newsletter is a primer for news, information and best practices to help you navigate the waters ahead. Be sure to check out Technology Corner, where we will share information about new technologies to help you grow your Lexus Wholesale Parts business in every issue.
