Fintech Insights
Q&A with Worldpay Partner CDK Global
November 03, 2020
CDK Global is a technology company serving dealerships of all sizes throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and South America. The company develops integrated technology that optimizes, streamlines and assists daily operations – all backed by data-derived business insight.
We caught up with Simon Maher, senior product manager for CDK Global, to hear about the company’s experience partnering with Worldpay.
Tell us about yourself and the CDK business.
I’ve worked at CDK for almost 20 years. In this time, I’ve worked mainly across the international division but also spent a few years working in the North America part of the business. My first roles at CDK started in operations, but lately I’ve been focusing on digital transformation and strategic initiatives to evolve automotive retailing by improving the consumer experience and driving operational efficiencies for retailers.
CDK Global is focused on enabling end-to-end automotive commerce. We provide solutions to dealers in more than 100 countries around the world, serving approximately 30,000 retail locations and most automotive manufacturers. CDK solutions automate and integrate all parts of the dealership and buying process from targeted digital advertising and marketing campaigns to the sale, financing, insuring, parts supply, repair and maintenance of vehicles.
What was the challenge you faced that brought you to work with Worldpay?
Through our continual listening posts, customer feedback, market megatrends and adjacent industry research, we recognized there were many pain points surrounding paper and manual processes that not only made dealer operations convoluted but also didn’t help dealers deliver a modern consumer experience.
When we dug deeper into the root cause, we found that the CDK transactional workflows – intrinsic to a dealer’s operations, success and customer satisfaction – were not digitized. We realized that connecting our long-proven transactional invoice and workflow engine to a payments service would significantly reduce paper and increase automation for a dealer’s operations. Fundamentally, it would also enable them to have a modern way of seeking payment to meet the needs of the consumer.
Why did you choose Worldpay over other providers?
We ran a lengthy and robust tender process encompassing many payment providers of many strengths. Worldpay stood out, not only with its strong presence in the automotive industry but also with its leading technology and services. The company also shared similar business goals to CDK including servicing customers with innovative digital experiences.
We aim to continue to collaborate, learn and innovate together to aid the automotive industry in its digital transformation journey to deliver key commerce initiatives."
What solutions does Worldpay offer that help you reach CDK’s business goals?
CDK ePayments powered by Worldpay solves many pain points in the industry. It will begin to open the payments omnichannel directly connected to CDK’s products and services, from remote payments enablement to improving the in-store experience via traditional card machines
What are the main challenges facing merchants in the automotive industry currently?
Automotive retailers require an easy way to initiate payment requests and provide consumers with convenient options to pay. Even more so throughout the pandemic, our customers can offer their customers a safe, secure and contact-free way to pay.
Dealers are also faced with the challenge of increasing internal efficiencies, with manual, often paper-based systems causing more manual errors as well as increasing the risk of payment fraud. Our ePayments solution provides more automation, greater transparency and connectivity between the sales and accounts functions of the dealership.
How can our joint solutions help merchants in the automotive industry?
Enabling the payments omnichannel together helps a dealer offer different options to pay, whether the consumer is remote or in-store at a dealer. In doing so, transactions are more fluid as they are fully digitized and connected to a complete payments service. This allows retailers to deliver a more customer-focused experience while making their business operations as lean and as efficient as possible.
What are some of the early results of working with us?
UK-based automotive dealership Steven Eagell, Milton Keynes has been trialing CDK ePayments throughout September 2020 across seven of its sites nationally. Paul Parsons, after sales director at Steven Eagell, comments on the results so far:
“CDK’s Pay by Link option is giving our customers peace of mind, which is key for them – and for us. They can agree on a price and pay remotely, then come and pick up their vehicle when they want, safely and quickly, with minimal contact. Given that social distancing measures look like being in place for some time to come, that’s a huge advantage for the business. And our accounts teams across multiple sites are finding their processes are much faster and more efficient, thanks to the DMS integration.”
Working closely with Worldpay to jointly serve our industry is key. Our goal is to present our complementary services as one to the automotive industry and enable the payments omnichannel together.
How will working with Worldpay evolve into 2021?
Our work has only just begun, and it’s been fun along the way. Early results from customer focus groups through to customer piloting are promising. We aim to continue to collaborate, learn and innovate together to aid the automotive industry in its digital transformation journey to deliver key commerce initiatives.