CarDamageTest business ecosystem. How to build a convenient service for car owners?

CarDamageTest business ecosystem. How to build a convenient service for car owners?

In a previous post, we talked about our service, which now has got the patented name CarDamageTest. It's designed to automatically assess the technical specifications of cars based upon artificial intelligence technologies. Now I'd like to bring up the transformation of this service into a full-fledged digital business ecosystem for car owners and companies working in the automotive business.

In this article we'll discuss the advantages of business ecosystems over regular services for customers, look at the benefits of participating in such systems for businesses, with links at the end of the article to download our service.

What's a business ecosystem?

The notion of a business ecosystem appeared in the early 1990s as a set of a firm's own as well as partner services capable of satisfying the maximum demands of a customer in a specific aspect of their life. This concept, however, has only become widespread in recent years due to the broad digitization of business and life of practically every individual. Almost every one of us already uses marketplaces for ordering goods and services, banking apps with a wide range of products and features, and social networks with an enormous range of various functions.

What services can a business ecosystem provide for car owners?

First and foremost, a business ecosystem is a customer-oriented service for a specific group of people that allows them to get a maximum of the services selected at the best price and time all in one place.

Before delving into what types of services a business ecosystem for car owners should include, let's take a look at the instances where the remote assessment of a car’s technical condition is applicable today and how this benefits the customer.

1. Car insurance. The process of buying full-coverage or liability car insurance, registering an accident, and receiving insurance payouts is primarily associated with the hassle of calling appraisers and accident assessors, who must personally draw up a vehicle inspection report and then send it to the insurance company. A second and slightly less obvious problem is the calculation of the cost of insurance payouts based on the price of damaged parts, which is only partially automated at present and carried out by insurance specialists. The third issue is the need to visit an insurance company's office to conclude contracts, provide documents, etc. This, of course, significantly complicates the entire insurance process, including receiving payouts and leads to increased insurance costs. One possible solution to all of these issues is the development of an online damage assessment, repair cost calculation, and documentation service.

2. Loans secured by a car. Unlike insurance, when obtaining a loan, a car owner needs to be present at the observation bay to inspect the car, expend a lot of time and energy, while receiving only 50-70% of the car's actual value. An honest online assessment of a car's value and the ability to obtain a loan in a short time will make this type of loan much more attractive.

3. Selling a car. If a customer decides to sell a car on a website they face hurdles in determining optimal sale price, car description, and in providing the set of photos and videos required. This process gets bogged down significantly while placing an add on multiple websites due to the specific requirements of each site. Using a one-stop-shop service will allow a customer to place ads on all their selected sites at once simply by uploading a video of their car.

4. Estimating the cost of repairs, ordering parts, and choosing a car service/mechanic. The maintenance and repair of a car requires a trip to your selected car service (garage), a damage assessment by a specialist, the ordering of parts from a partner company, waiting for them to be delivered and traveling to get the repairs done. Another component of the business ecosystem can be a module that solves all of these issues online. Specifically damage assessment, optimal car service selection (where the required parts may be available), ordering the necessary spare parts at the lowest price, as well as coordinating the arrival time for repairs to be done. Solving all of these issues will substantially lower both maintenance time and costs.

5. Use of car-sharing. The development of car-sharing has been hindered, among other things, by fines for damage to the car that allegedly occurred while being used by the customer. Using the service will allow you to evaluate the car before starting the trip, after it ends, and then send this data to the car-sharing company, thereby saving yourself from any unwarranted expenditures. Additionally, the ability to rent a car within the business ecosystem, all without installing several different applications, will make this process faster and more convenient.

6. Customs inspection. Speeding up car inspections during a customs examination when importing an automobile. The service being implemented at Temporary Storage Warehouses for authorized individuals will make the inspection more transparent and allow for more accurate calculation of customs payments.

7. Additional services. Storage of the history of car condition assessments, information about technical inspection dates, the ability to rapidly contact technical service specialists, insurance and credit institutions, personalized shopping offers at company stores, etc., will raise the level of convenience in the eyes of customers.

When analyzing all the areas where CarDamageTest is applicable, we can say that the business ecosystem for motorists acts as a kind of middleman between customers and various companies and organizations whose services they intend to use. The system is beneficial for customers in that they save time and money, there is fraud protection, and call center support. In terms of shortcomings, they may be tied to the limited choice of companies providing their services during this initial stage, but they will level off in the future.

Next, we'd like to take into consideration the functionality of the business ecosystem for motorists and how it benefits partner companies.

What kind of functionality should a business ecosystem possess?

All of the issues mentioned in the previous section have one thing in common – they are based upon information about the technical condition of a car provided by CarDamageTest using AI analysis of photos and videos uploaded by the customer.

• assess the external damage of a car with high accuracy, determining 11 damage classes on 36 car segments, regardless of body type, make and model of the automobile;
• generate a detailed damage report that meets the requirements of insurance and credit institutions alike;
• preliminarily calculate the cost of parts.

We have virtually the same functionality as the world's leading companies putting forth solutions in this specific field, while simultaneously providing higher accuracy of car assessment results. This, however, isn't sufficient for building a business ecosystem.

• assessment of the technical condition of a car's interior (detection of damage, instrument readings);
• recognition of car VIN numbers, make, model, and tire size chart;
• automatic driver's license and tech inspection certificate verification via the use of document recognition;
• prediction of internal damage to parts and systems based upon the detection of external issues;
• car performance assessment.

With this functionality to assess the technical condition of a car, we can create a full-fledged business ecosystem for car owners that provides the maximum range of services shown in the figure above.

Are automotive companies interested in the emergence of a business ecosystem for car owners?

The answer to this question can be found by observing the modern development of marketplaces, which more and more large companies and small manufacturers are trying to break into.

Revenue from large numbers of orders, client loyalty, transparent financial relationships, and the ability for exposure to a broad audience encourages companies to be part of such business ecosystems, all despite customers having the possibility to compare offers from the competition on one screen. By 2025 more than 30% of global income will be garnered by business ecosystems, according to forecasts from the consulting firm McKinsey.

Is it possible to build a digital business ecosystem in the automotive business?

AI technologies are being used very poorly in the automotive business today. This is primarily due to the lack of remote car assessment systems trusted by insurance companies, credit institutions, and auto services. Given the pace with which digital business ecosystems are entering our lives, it's obvious that in the span of just a few years the automotive business will be chock-full with intelligent systems providing customers with the most convenient and comprehensive service around.

In this article we covered the developmental directions of our service, CarDamageTest, with the understanding that the heart of the future business ecosystem, external car damage assessment, already has a ready-made solution. Our immediate plans include fine-tuning the module where damage costs and interior issues are assessed. Of course, we aim for the gradual solution of all the tasks set forth before us.

Meanwhile, I'd like to present you with a free version of the core of our service that is available for downloading in app stores. The core is still under development, but basic functionality is currently available.

• determine the availability of a car on an uploaded video;
• assess all the elements of the body of a car present on a video;
• divide the body of a car into separate segments;
• find all visible damage;
• come to a final conclusion about the car's condition with visualization of all the damage found.

• App Store
• Google Play
• AppGallery