Shopping Brought to Your Dashboard by General Motors

On December 5, General Motors (GM) announced it would include e-commerce technology in the dashboards of all of its newer vehicle models. The company thinks it will benefit from drivers being able to find gas, hotel rooms and food by using in-dash options rather than turning to their smartphones. The feature would also address a significant safety issue by keeping people’s eyes on the road.

Called Marketplace, the new tech was developed with assistance from IBM and is already being uploaded to two million 2017 model year vehicles. It is expected to be in four million technically capable GMC, Cadillac, Buick and Chevrolet cars by the close of 2018.

During a recent press conference, GM vice president Santiago Chamorro said that the company will receive a portion of revenue from in-dash Marketplace merchants. He also noted that those who utilize Marketplace from their cars will not have to pay fees for using the service or conducting transactions from it.

Chamorro further explained that the Marketplace platform is financially backed by the merchants. GM is paid for the placement of a merchant’s application, and each transaction initiated by customers will trigger revenue sharing back to the company. He did not elaborate on the amount of revenue that GM would receive. It is not currently clear on how much the company could make from Marketplace overall.

The platform will present direct competition with customer smartphones in regard to clicks and revenue generated from them despite phones currently having a more sophisticated set of applications. At this time, Marketplace offers only Exxon Mobile and Shell for fuel options, and TGI Fridays is the lone restaurant offering. GM will soon add apps to help customers find a parking space and order food from Applebee’s and coffee shops like Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks. At some point, Amazon plans to add its Alexa personal assistant to both GM and Ford vehicles.

Chamorro said the new vendors will be added in the first three months of 2018. After that point, GM is planning to bring music streaming, news stations and a variety of information services into its in-dash offering.

The company also wants to use the connections made through Marketplace to promote other features, such as in-vehicle wifi, which is popular with many families while on the road. It will also push its dealer network and replacement parts business. This means customers will experience more direct advertising from GM on their dashboards.