Standards Streamline Sales Processes for Automotive Dealers and Vendors
The Standards for Technology in Automotive Retail (STAR) announced in a press release the publication of automotive’s first sales process standards API and multiple updates to the STAR6 XML standards for retail automotive. These standards assist dealers and vendors alike in streamlining the data necessary in automotive’s ever-changing industry landscape.
The approved Sales Process API provides a domain model that maps the entire retail automotive sales process. Included in this are industry-first standards related to: customer and application information including work, living, credit, references and more. The STAR Sales Process standards expand to include automotive inventory, finances with the addition of taxes, incentives and fees, salesperson commissions, the F&I process, and accessories.
STAR’s Sales Process API has been created to standardize the data for the automotive industry’s common purchase types: cash, finance and lease. The approved model is already in use in production systems across multiple automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and dealer service providers — a classification that includes retail dealership DMS providers.
“The work to standardize data models across automotive retail continues,” said Andrew Wright, managing partner of Vinart Dealerships and chairman of STAR. “This announcement is further evidence that data standards are needed and desired by all stakeholders in automotive retail.”
The Sales Process Domain model and API is a leap forward for STAR. It is the first of many domain models that will be released in 2023 supporting retail automotive dealership digital twins. STAR’s approved Sales Process Domain model builds on decades of automotive retail knowledge to facilitate the creation of a dealership digital twin. This virtual dealership representation can be used to simulate, analyze and optimize the store’s performance. It offers several benefits such as: improved inventory management, increased efficiency, reduced costs, better operations and better experiences for customers. This industry-defined standard allows seamless integration so that OEMs, vendors and dealers alike can focus on innovation and value creation.
The original STAR6 XML, released just after NADA 2022, refactored 35 XML BODs with a focus on the parts domain of retail auto dealerships, including: acknowledge parts, get parts, change parts, cancel parts, notify parts, process parts, propose parts, respond parts, show parts and sync parts across all actions of related codes for: inventory, invoices, orders, price lists, master lists and shipments. STAR’s recent updates to the STAR6 XML BODs include the addition of four new nouns: credit decision, sales lead, customer information and vehicle telematics. This brings the total number of STAR6 XML BODs to 54.
“With these latest additions to STAR6, STAR continues the modernization of its XML standard, which makes up the backbone of the retail integration offering of many leading OEMs and DSPs,” noted Anders Puwanant, head of APIs and integration framework at Volvo Construction Equipment. “At Volvo Construction Equipment these improved and easier to use STAR XML BODs will enable us to further reduce lead time in new service development and make the maintenance of our retail integration service offering more effective also in finance and telematics.”
As with all of STAR’s standards, these launches are the result of collaborative efforts and best practices across STAR’s members — OEM executives, retail automotive dealer principals, representatives from the National Automotive Dealers Association (NADA) and leading technology providers. STAR’s Sales Process Domain and STAR6 XML updates are now available for download to businesses worldwide.
To learn more, visit starstandard.org.
