The Mercedes-Benz and Smart dealer "Beresa", based in Münster, is the digital pioneer in the German automotive industry. The trade journal "kfz-betrieb" recognized the dealership group as the overall winner of the "Digital Automotive Award 2020". The "Digital Automotive Award" was presented for the first time this year together with partners Bank Deutsches Kraftfahrzeuggewerbe (BDK), Continental, mobile.de and TÜV Nord Mobilität.
"Beresa" was honored with the "Digital Automotive Award" for its business intelligence concept under the name "Beresa BI". This is part of the company's comprehensive digitalization strategy, which also includes an e-commerce-capable web portal and a dealer's own car-sharing concept based on electric cars.
The central service of the business intelligence software is to bring together data from 80 independent IT systems in the dealership for the benefit of customers, employees and company management and to prepare this data in a user-friendly way. Around 20 of the systems are currently integrated. The centrepiece is the so-called 360-degree customer view, which enables the company's customer advisors to provide highly individualized customer contact.
The software is designed to help advise customers in line with their needs using all the data available in the company. When does the current vehicle warranty expire? Which car might the customer be interested in next? In addition, the company management can make well-founded management decisions based on the aggregated information available in the system with the help of daily updated information.
Together with a regionally based IT service provider, "Beresa" also markets the software concept to other companies in the automotive industry using a license model. This provides the beginnings of an additional business model.
With the "Digital Automotive Award", "kfz-betrieb", together with the award partners, honours the best achievements of dealerships and service companies in the automotive industry in the field of digitalization. The focus is on the companies' digital lighthouse projects. The companies apply with these. The award is aimed equally at brand-affiliated and independent car dealerships and workshops.
This year, the trade journal "kfz-betrieb" presented the "Digital Automotive Award" to a total of ten companies in the automotive industry, which were shortlisted from a larger field of applicants. The jury then selected "Beresa" as the overall winner from among these ten winners.
"kfz-betrieb" presented the "Digital Automotive Award 2020" for a wide range of digital solutions. It was about e-commerce in car sales and in the downstream workshop and parts business, about digital recruiting and employer branding, about digital processes in the workshop sector or about commercial vehicle sales and purchases.
Wolfgang Michel, editor-in-chief of "kfz-betrieb", praised the projects of all the award-winning companies: "Digitalization in the automotive industry today means much more than offering cars via classified ads on the Internet and arranging workshop appointments by e-mail. The ten award-winning companies have taken up this challenge. And they are committed to ensuring that current and future employees or customers can manage their tasks as easily as possible using digital means or find solutions to their concerns."
The ten winners of the "Digital Automotive Awards 2020":
Overall winner:
Beresa, Münster (Business Intelligence in the multichannel business)
Other winning companies:
- CSB Schimmel Automobile, Berlin (Digital Employer Branding and Recruiting)
- Emil Frey Germany, Stuttgart (e-commerce in vehicle sales)
- Feser-Graf Group, Nuremberg (e-commerce in the B2B auction business)
- Autohaus Kunzmann, Aschaffenburg (digital platform strategy)
- Auto Leebmann, Passau (e-commerce in the aftersales business)
- Autohaus Schmitz, Ebernhahn (digital management of new car premiums)
- Auto Senger, Rheine (digital service process)
- Stadac, Stade (digital service process)
- Torpedo Group, Kaiserslautern (digital platform strategy)
"kfz-betrieb" is the most widely read trade magazine in the automotive industry and has been informing the automotive trade and service sector for over 100 years. "kfz-betrieb" is the official organ of the German automotive trade (ZDK), the professional interest group for around 38,000 car dealerships and workshops. News from the entire automotive industry can be found at www.kfz-betrieb.de and in the daily newsletter The parent company Vogel Communications Group is one of the leading service providers for B2B communication in the German-speaking world. Its headquarters are in Würzburg. With four agencies in Berlin, the Group offers comprehensive communications expertise. The Group's services range from specialist media, corporate publishing, social media services, PR, trade fair services, networks and communities to market intelligence & insights and an in-house congress center.
