Dealership groups are under constant pressure to protect margins, sharpen decision-making, and respond faster than the market. The groups performing strongest today aren’t simply working harder; they’re using automotive business intelligence to identify opportunities early and act with confidence.

That’s why RWA Automotive is introducing IgniteRetention, an early access solution built to answer one of the most commercially important questions in retail: How many customers truly return to buy again? Not just how many renew their finance.

IgniteRetention shifts the focus to what matters most: customer behaviour.

It measures loyalty through repeat purchases and buying journeys, not through finance-led cycles. This allows retailers to understand the true pattern of retention across their group without relying on a single metric.

What is IgniteRetention?

IgniteRetention is an early-access analytics module built around the lens that truly reflects loyalty: repeat purchase behaviour.

Using your own DMS sales history, it creates a complete, groupwide view of genuine return-to-buy performance, offering a clearer baseline for leadership teams and local management alike. For retailers already investing in car dealership analytics or dealership analytics, IgniteRetention adds a layer that most tools miss: the ability to see retention as behaviour, not just as finance renewals or isolated branch outcomes.

How it works.

IgniteRetention highlights the insights that matter most:

• Retention performance for new and used vehicles.
• Branch-by-branch comparisons.
• Month-to-month retention trends.
• Switching patterns between new and used.
• Cross-branch movement.

It also provides a full transaction list, allowing teams to interrogate the underlying data, with filters to exclude newly acquired or non-operational locations.   

At this stage, IgniteRetention becomes more than reporting; it becomes an automotive dealer solution that transforms sales data into clear, practical retention opportunities. 

Early access, with a clear roadmap. 

IgniteRetention is launching in early access because the insight is already delivering value, and we want to be transparent about what’s included today and what’s coming next.   

The current version focuses on vehicle sales.

Service behaviour, an important predictor of future retention, will be integrated as part of the upcoming roadmap.   

We’re also developing the inclusion of CAP ownership and finance-related signals (including ownership changes, settlements, and churn indicators). These will further strengthen the visibility of customers who change vehicles outside the group-related signals.

What retailers can do with IgniteRetention.

Even in early access, IgniteRetention is already helping retailers: 

• Identify their true retention performance 
• Understand customer movement and why it’s happening 
• Target branches with high potential 
• Improve ROI from marketing spend 
• Build repeatable, retention-focused processes grounded in behavioural truth 

As Chris Lee, Managing Director at Howards Motor Group, explains: 

“[RWA’s IgniteRetention] has given us real clarity on true customer behaviour and customer lifetime value. We can be more directional with our marketing spend and focus on the customers most likely to purchase and at the right time. Our retention performance was already strong; the data has highlighted further opportunities for growth and increased financial return, which is invaluable.” 

Ready to see your true retention picture?

IgniteRetention is being shared now because even in early access, the insight is strong enough to act on, and we’re developing it into a premium, full-featured retention product.  

If you’d like to explore what IgniteRetention can reveal for your group - across branches, timeframes, and real customer journeys - get in touch.

Our team would be happy to show what’s possible using your own automotive data, even if you already have an automotive business intelligence provider.