Digital retailing company CarNow has launched ReConnect and +AI, two new products for its Dealer Retail Platform designed to use artificial intelligence to enhance customer interactions and streamline lead follow-up.

“In today’s market, consumers are accustomed to automated texts and AI chatbots in their shopping experience,” CarNow co-CEO Joe Gilmour said. “While dealers are eager to embrace new technology, they also recognize how vital the relationship aspect of the car-buying experience is. ReConnect and +AI allow dealers to adopt a human-plus-AI approach, rather than human-versus-AI, to meet those expectations.”

ReConnect is a lead follow-up tool that combined automation, AI and human connection to “bridge the gap between initial inquiry and final sale,” the company said, simplifying and optimizing lead engagement by automating SMS-based campaigns.

ReConnect includes personalized messaging to deliver targeted campaigns based on customer preferences such as new or used car inquiries and trade-in considerations, a library of customizable templates for each campaign, AI-powered appointment setting, the capability for human intervention to jump into live conversations at any time after a customer responds to a text, and flexible automated follow-up options.

CarNow said ReConnect is available to all dealers, whether or not they’re CarNow customers. It’s compatible with CDK’s CRM platform and, the company said it will add other CRMs and an email integration soon.

+AI integrates AI into the back end of CarNow’s DealerHome platform to improve chat and messaging functionalities for CarNow customers, the company said. The feature is designed to allow dealership staff to receive AI-assisted responses for faster and more accurate responses to customer inquiries.

+AI also offers a summary of each lead to make sales staff aware of previous interactions and which steps customers have completed in their buying journey.

“For CarNow, AI allows us to enhance the customer experience without increasing the workload of dealership staff,” Gilmour said. “By reducing the pressure on the sales staff to recall every customer interaction or find answers to myriad questions, we empower them to prioritize relationship-building over recalling information.”