ISELIN, N.J. -

Fast-food restaurants and gas stations often are open 24 hours a day. Darwin Automotive is aiming to provide a way that dealerships’ F&I offices can enjoy the same kind of availability.

F&I software provider Darwin Automotive recently released what the company dubbed Darwin Online, a patented digital retailing application that’s designed to enable dealerships worldwide to process online transactions with a fully functional F&I department that’s open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Darwin Automotive chief executive officer Phillip Battista said this solution can deliver while protecting dealership profitability and providing accuracy and transparency to the online consumer.

“I am extremely excited about the release of Darwin Online. This is big news for the auto industry. Finance and insurance represents 30 to 40 percent of overall profitability and is critical to the lifeblood of the dealership. Now, dealers can sell it all 24/7 — service contracts, tire and wheel protection, paint protection —  you name it, just by adding a simple widget to any or all their websites,” Battista said in a news release.

“With Darwin Online, dealers can rest assured that their profitability is protected. It provides accurate, transparent information to the online consumer utilizing a nationwide database of incentives with both lease and retail rates. It also has its own proprietary 50 state tax databases. We provide the missing link that enables a full online vehicle sales transaction,” Battista added.

The company highlighted Darwin Online can interface with more than 142 different product providers and can allow dealerships to control their profitability and disclosure. It interacts with all dealership websites without any need for DMS integration. The platform can provide accurate payments that match the dealership’s DMS to the penny.

With Darwin, the needs of a consumer are paramount in determining which products and services can best fit those needs. And with Darwin Online, this “needs discovery” can happen before they step into the dealership — right from their mobile device, 24/7.

Darwin Online was created by a team of F&I software pioneers that brought one of the first electronic menus to market, MenuVantage, and was constructed to do than just automate the interview. It uses a combination of algorithms to analyze in real time the customer’s answers to a set of needs-discovery questions, deal information, previous ownership history and any other details stored in the dealership’s DMS.

Then, through predictive analytics, the tool can produce a driver’s needs analysis, which scores F&I products based on the buyer’s need and the likelihood the customer will purchase those protections.

The analytics also contain the customer’s prior ownership history, information on the vehicle’s warranty, and other deal factors. Darwin Automotive emphasized this information about why the customer will need the product is critical to the education of the online consumer.

“Over 2,000 auto dealers nationwide have boosted F&I profitability with Darwin. They, along with the entire automotive industry, will now also benefit from a seamless buying experience from customers on the web,” Battista said.

“Consumers have been waiting for a transparent, accurate buying experience, while dealerships longed to have software designed by car people that will protect their profitability. Darwin Online is the first system to accomplish both goals,” he went on to say.

For more information or to schedule a product demonstration call (732) 781-9010 or visit www.darwinautomotive.com.