A Primer on DMS and other dealer software?

[ChrisRasco]

Full disclosure, I've got a tech background and have never worked in a dealership. That said, I've got a project brewing that has thrust me into getting a much deeper understanding of how all the technology goes together for running say a small online dealership. I've finding it very difficult to locate any type of beginners guide out there that ramp me up and help me know what I don't know and how major players like HomeNet or vAuto fit into the general landscape.

My use case is relatively simple. Stock In Inventory and display inventory (presumably also syndicated through your major aggregator sites).

What's a good starting point for someone like me?

 

[Ryan Everson]

Are you a dealership or a vendor? And just to further clarify your use case...what do you define as "stock in inventory"?

But a good start would be to get with HomeNet support and they can set you up as a vendor where they can export your dealership(s) inventory in your desired format. Typically csv, you specify the columns and filters you want, your desired schedule/frequency, and provide them SFTP/FTP credentials.

Pretty much all inventory management systems use CSV files. Although some like Homenet do offer API integrations to access and update inventory.

 

[ChrisRasco]

Thanks Ryan. We will be setup as a dealership, but think of it more like a consignment shop. Ideally I'll have a clean backend that lets me add new vehicles for sale which then show up in our inventory. If I understand your comment, Homenet would have an API I could hit for managing inventory but many others just want our inventory managed in a CSV file they can grab via FTP on some schedule?

 

[Todd Thompson]

I'm happy to answer anything you may be wondering. I'm a developer and director for a large auto group where we implement most of our own tools/integrations.

 

[Ryan Everson]

Thanks Ryan. We will be setup as a dealership, but think of it more like a consignment shop. Ideally I'll have a clean backend that lets me add new vehicles for sale which then show up in our inventory. If I understand your comment, Homenet would have an API I could hit for managing inventory but many others just want our inventory managed in a CSV file they can grab via FTP on some schedule?

Gotcha. For that use case I would recommend signing up for your own Homenet IOL rooftop - it's super reasonable price-wise. You'd add all of your inventory into Homenet. Plus you'll get the added benefit of a VIN decoder, equipment packages, etc vs having to recreate the wheel.

And then for your own website you would add/update/delete inventory via a Homenet CSV feed. And then also use Homenet to syndicate your inventory to third party sites.

 

[Todd Thompson]

Gotcha. For that use case I would recommend signing up for your own Homenet IOL rooftop - it's super reasonable price-wise. You'd add all of your inventory into Homenet. Plus you'll get the added benefit of a VIN decoder, equipment packages, etc vs having to recreate the wheel.

And then for your own website you would add/update/delete inventory via a Homenet CSV feed. And then also use Homenet to syndicate your inventory to third party sites.

Great approach here. They can create a custom feed depending on your own site requirements and provide that csv via accessible 'security by obscurity' url. Vin decode works well. Ability to overlay images "big sale this thursday" and have the image overlay and remove on a certain date or simply provide some kind of banner on images when uploaded into homenet. Surprisingly flexible backend even with their "1998 wants their layout back " UI design

 

[ChrisRasco]

Thanks for the feedback. Todd, i'm going to DM