Jordan Corn, Director of Solutions Research for IT, AAA Mid-Atlantic
Category
  • Next Generation Customer Experience
The Project 

Jordan led the development of the AAA Auto Buying Tools app that lets mobile users turn to a trusted consumer advocate to price and purchase vehicles. Available to nearly 53 million members of 41 AAA clubs, plus non-members, it works with any mobile device running Apple iOS, including the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. Users can research and compare vehicles, and by logging on, AAA members can purchase vehicles at member prices.

The Techology

WSO2 Carbon enterprise middleware platform, WSO2 Inc.

Metrics Matter

Before this project, AAA members had to visit the website from their desktops or notebook computers to compare automotive prices and available deals through their affiliate clubs. Now, with the AAA Auto Buying Tools app, buyers can compare and price cars while at the dealer when they most need it. Assuming the iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad has a good network connection, a vehicle’s specifications, options, images and pricing information will all come back to the user in five seconds or less. Since launching in December 2011, the Auto Buying Tools app has been downloaded more than 25,000 times.

Disruptive Factor

With the AAA Auto Buying Tools app, consumers now can get accurate and objective vehicle purchasing information delivered to their mobile devices right when they need it most, whether at the dealership facing an aggressive sales rep, or out searching for the dealer with the model they want. This a significant advantage over alternative independent resources like Consumer Reports and Edmunds, which only provide general pricing and package guidelines and do not make these available on mobile devices. For AAA members at some clubs, the application goes beyond information, and connects the member to a dealer to complete the purchase.

Shining Moment

We realized buyers needed to compare and price cars when they were at the dealer using their mobile devices, and  making the idea a reality screamed out for a service-oriented architecture (SOA) approach. Using open source SOA middleware from WSO2, we took just 6 months to launch the AAA Auto Buying Tools App, which accomodates the different business relationships, rules and processes for each of our 41 US AAA affiliate clubs, to provide consumers with information and offers specific to their region. And because the intelligence is all in the back-end, we can easily expand from devices running Apple iOS to other popular mobile platforms.

 

ABOUT AAA Mid-Atlantic

AAA Mid-Atlantic provides membership, roadside assistance, travel, insurance, and financial services offerings to more than 3.7 million members through a network of 2,500 employees in approximately 60 office locations. AAA Mid-Atlantic serves members in Delaware, Maryland, Washington, DC and parts of Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. For more information, visit https://midatlantic.aaa.com