Reynolds Retail Management System Is Helping Canadian Dealers Embrace the Changed World of Automotive Retailing

Reynolds Retail Management System Helps Dealers Operate More Efficiently and Profitably and Improve the Customer Experience

ERA-IGNITE is the Foundation of Reynolds Retail Management System in Canada

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, April 1, 2016 /CNW/ -- Reynolds and Reynolds has developed Reynolds Retail Management System as an all-inclusive response to the changed world of automotive retailing. Reynolds Retail Management System offers a comprehensive set of tools to help dealers increase efficiency and profitability of dealership operations and improve how consumers experience the dealership.

In Canada, Reynolds Retail Management System platform is anchored by the ERA-IGNITE dealership management system (DMS). ERA-IGNITE is Reynolds' windows-based DMS launched in Canada in 2014. With applications available in English and French, ERA-IGNITE is built from the ground up to help dealers work smarter and improve the consumer experience.

"Over the past eight years since the recession, a new dynamic has emerged in automotive retailing along with the industry's steady recovery," said Ron Lamb, president of Reynolds and Reynolds. "That new dynamic is what I describe as the 'new normal' for the industry. The 'new normal' is defining the future of automotive retailing and shaping how dealers do business every day."

Lamb noted the "new normal" is influenced by a number of trends: the number of dealerships in North America has declined, yet consumer demand for vehicles is growing; consumer expectations about buying and servicing a vehicle are changing rapidly; and, in the midst of a strong industry, profit pressures on dealers persist.

"Reynolds Retail Management System is built to help dealers tackle the challenges of the 'new normal' head on," added Ian Reilly, vice president of Sales for Reynolds Canada. "It contains tools that help dealers reach customers with more precision and with more relevant messages. It also enables dealers to better respond to changing consumer expectations for the car-buying experience. Those tools, in turn, improve efficiency and effectiveness in dealership operations to help grow the dealer's business."

Reilly noted other products built in Reynolds Retail Management System include:

• Contact Management to help dealers improve efficiency and effectiveness in how they manage marketing and customer relationship management (CRM) efforts, handle sales leads, and control advertising expenses.
• Reynolds Integrated Telephone System, a telephone system developed for automobile retailers and designed to enable dealers to combine improved customer service with improved productivity of their employees.
• RFID for Service to allow dealers to provide a personalized welcome message and greeting to customers arriving for service work.
• Service Status Board to allow dealers to keep customers waiting at the dealership informed of the repair status of their vehicle.
• ReyPAY to help dealers meet consumer expectations by delivering convenient, secure payment experiences in the dealership, online, or over the phone. ReyPAY also helps dealerships operate more efficiently – saving time and reducing processing errors.
• Retail Management Intelligence to enable the dealer's management team to access important business metrics in a central location, in real time, in a format they prefer. The Retail Management Intelligence reporting tool helps dealers move swiftly to resolve potential problems and profit leaks.

Reilly concluded: "How dealers respond to the challenges of the 'new normal' today will set the tone for how they manage their business tomorrow. Reynolds Retail Management System is designed to give dealers a competitive advantage in meeting those challenges."

About Reynolds
Reynolds and Reynolds is the automotive industry's largest and most trusted provider of automobile dealership software, services, and forms to help dealerships improve business results. The company is headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, with major U.S. operations in Houston and College Station, Texas, and Celina, Ohio. In Canada, Reynolds has operations in Mississauga, Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec. (www.reyrey.ca)

SOURCE The Reynolds and Reynolds Company

Media Contact: Thomas Schwartz, 937.485.8109 (office), 937.269.9569 (mobile), [email protected], http://www.reyrey.com