One platform that produces the dealers' own apps
- 80+ apps on one platform, without starting over
- 110,000+ users across the motor trade
- Loyalty the dealer keeps the customer after the sale
- Every new customer costs almost the same as the first.
- The product is good, but it cannot be sold at scale.
- Customers disappear when the formal commitment ends.
- The calendar has gaps, and an empty hour cannot be sold afterwards.
That is what it looks like for many who want to turn a service into a product. These are some of the challenges we have worked on with Universal Apps.
What was Universal Apps facing?
Universal Apps had the business model in place: apps as a service for car importers and dealers, with their own brand and their own content. What was missing was the machine that could deliver it. One app per dealer, built as a project every time, would never pay off.
Behind that lay the workshops' own challenge. When the warranty period on a car runs out, the customer's reason to come back disappears, and with it the service revenue. At the same time, a workshop lives on having a full calendar: empty slots cannot be sold afterwards, the owner only remembers the service when something sounds wrong, and booking happens during phone hours, which rarely fit the customer's day.
So the solution had to create value at three levels at once: for Universal Apps as a business, for the importer and dealer as customers, and for the car owner, who has to want to keep the app on their phone. If one level fails, the other two fall with it.
Universal Apps can sell to the next dealer without building from scratch.
A business model that assumed one app per customer, where every new customer cost as much as a new project.
More than 80 branded apps produced on the same platform, with a combined base of more than 110,000 users.
The car is looked after according to how it is actually driven. The reminder arrives when it is relevant, not when a register says so.
From a new car to the next service, without the dealer having to call
The car owner does not need an app every day. They need it at the few moments when the car requires something. The journey is built around those moments, not around the dealer's sales calendar.
That is also where the relationship between dealer and customer is decided. When the warranty runs out, the only reason to come back is that someone has been useful in the meantime.
- The car into the app The registration plate
One field, and the car's data is pulled from the vehicle register. The car is in the garage straight away.
- In everyday life My car
Service intervals, bodywork inspections and the car's documents gathered, so you do not have to go looking for them.
- When something needs doing Reminder and booking
The message arrives when the service is relevant, and the slot is booked with the car's details filled in.
- After the warranty The dealer is still there
A loyalty programme, offers and roadside assistance give a reason to stay once the formal commitment is gone.
The tools vary from dealer to dealer. The order does not, because it follows the car owner's year, not the platform's features.
Apps are configured, not built
- Native SDK
Template and components for iOS and Android, driven by a configuration engine, so the 80th app costs a fraction of the first without compromising on being a real app.
- The registration number
The car owner types in their plate, and the vehicle data is pulled automatically from the vehicle register. The car is in the garage after one field instead of a form.
- Continuous enrichment
The car's data is kept up to date automatically, and the owner is asked regularly about mileage and usage. Together this gives a picture of how the car is actually used, not just how old it is.
- Reminders in time
From that picture, the right service moments are calculated and the owner is contacted automatically. The workshop hits the moment when the message is relevant, and can fill the calendar instead of waiting for the phone to ring.
- Booking without phone hours
The owner books a slot in the app with the car, the service and the mileage filled in. The workshop gets a request it can plan around, instead of a call that has to be written down.
The platform makes the production cost per customer low enough for the subscription model to add up. The apps are not the product. The ability to make them is.
Universal Apps had to sell to the next customer without building from scratch
The quickest route would have been to build a really good app for the first dealer and then copy it for the next. That works the first couple of times and then becomes a burden every time something needs fixing.
One app per dealer
- Faster to launch with the very first customer
- But every fix has to be made in every app
- The cost per customer never falls
A templating platform with administration
- New apps are configured instead of developed
- Improvements benefit every dealer at once
- The dealer controls their own content and communication
Three moves that turned a service into a product
Universal Apps knows the automotive trade, the dealers' business and the aftermarket. Our contribution was building the platform that makes their model possible to scale.
- 01
Multi-level access control
Importer, dealer and car owner each see their own part of the platform. The role model reflects who owns which customers and data, and it is what makes the B2B2C model possible to run.
- 02
Data enrichment and segmentation
Automatic lookups keep the car's data current, and the owner's own answers about mileage and usage make the picture accurate. The dealer can filter on it, so a campaign reaches the people it is relevant to.
- 03
Tools for the car owner
My car, booking, contact, damage reports and roadside assistance make the app something you keep on your phone.
The pre-project decided whether the platform could be built correctly
Universal Apps sells to importers and dealers, who serve the car owners. The value therefore has to be created at several levels at once, and those levels have different interests: the importer wants the brand held, the dealer wants their own customers, and the car owner simply wants the car looked after.
So we ran a pre-project first. Not to draw screens, but to understand the business and the relationships: who owns the customer, who may see which data, what should the importer be able to decide across the board, and what should the dealer control themselves. Access control is not a detail in a B2B2C platform; it is the business model written into the system.
That work is why the platform could be built correctly the first time. Had we guessed at the roles, the wrong assumptions would be sitting in all 80 apps.
The same platform, the dealer's own brand
Apps for different dealers, produced on the same foundation. The car owner meets their own workshop, not a platform.
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PMA Biler: the front page in the dealer's own brand
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Gunner Due Biler: the same foundation, a different look
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My garage shows when service is due
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The car's data pulled from the vehicle register
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Booking with the car and mileage filled in
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Loyalty programme between visits
The garage shows when servicing and bodywork inspections are due, and the booking brings the car's details along. The loyalty programme gives the workshop a reason to make contact between visits.
Coignite’s expertise in digital development and innovation has been decisive for the success of our service platform. Their team has not only delivered a solid solution, but also a foundation for our future growth. My warmest recommendation.
A platform that becomes more valuable with every customer
Because all the apps share a foundation, a new feature benefits every dealer immediately. That makes the product stronger the more customers are on it, and those are the kinds of platforms that are hard to compete with from the outside.
- Industry
- The automotive trade
- Platform
- Mobile app (iOS and Android) and web administration
- Our role
- Development partner with operational responsibility under a service agreement, support and ongoing development
- Capabilities
- Digital consulting , UX and service design , App development , Web development , System development
- Technologies
- Android (Java), iOS (Swift), Angular, Postgres, Java/Scala
- The collaboration
- A digital pre-project first, then development
Do you have a service that needs to become a product?
- A reply from one of us by the next business day.
- A no-obligation review of your situation.
- Clarity on which options are relevant to you.
- A concrete plan, if you choose to go ahead.