Digital retailing and desking integration guide

What to check before you decide

Ask about recalculation. The desking tool may apply its own rate sheet, tax and fee rules.

If it silently recomputes the payment, the customer sees a different number. The connection should either carry the exact figures or flag every difference with a reason.

Test it with five deals and compare each number.

Check timing. Is the deal available at the desk the moment the customer arrives, or after a delay? What happens if the customer changes something online while the manager is working the deal?

Look at the other direction. When the desk changes the structure, can the customer see the updated deal in the same place? Can the manager send a revised payment by text?

Check the documents. Credit applications, trade photos and disclosures should travel with the deal, and the desk should not ask for them again. Check where the e-signature step sits.

Ask about vehicle availability. If the car sells before the customer finishes, the system should say so promptly and offer alternatives.

Measure the handoff: how many online deals reach the desk intact, how many are restarted, and how many close. Review the restarted ones to find the cause.

Review five abandoned online deals each week with the desk manager, looking at where the customer stopped, what the numbers looked like and whether the store followed up, because the stories behind dropped deals show broken handoffs far faster than a funnel chart showing only percentages.