Financing Gives Fleets Flexible Options for Marketing on Wheels

When businesses add new vehicles to their fleets, they want to get them on the road and working as soon as possible.

Often, that means getting a vehicle wrap — those vinyl coverings that make it possible to change the color of a car or truck or add logos and phone numbers without paint. In those cases, the fleets want to waste no time getting the products designed, produced, installed and paid for.

Wrapmate offers a digital platform that facilitates the entire process, serving as the sole contactor for both the end user and the installer, offering a choice of financing options and payment methods, and collecting and distributing the payments.

“It makes it way easier for Joe the Plumber’s growing fleet or growing company to just go to one location,” Javier Lozano Jr., chief marketing officer at Wrapmate, told PYMNTS.

A Choice of Plans

On the platform, customers can follow the prompts on the site to specify a wrap and complete the purchase online or contact Wrapmate for help. When the purchase is complete, they drop off the vehicle at the graphics shop.

The payments start with an initial project deposit for the custom Wrapmate. Once the customer has approved the design, they can then pay for the remainder of the project in their choice of two ways: in two installments or with financing.

The financing is a buy now, pay later (BNPL) option offered in partnership with Uplift. Once approved by Uplift, the customer can spread out the payments.

“That way, they can budget their marketing budget toward their vehicle, and it helps alleviate the whole, ‘Oh, gosh, I have to spend this much now,’” Lozano said. “So, the financing piece is a huge piece of our business, for our customers as well too.”

Working with the Customer

Customers pay through the company’s website. Most of these payments are made with a credit card, but some are made with a check or by automated clearing house (ACH) payment.

“We will definitely work with that customer in those aspects, because how people want to budget their wrapping is their prerogative — it’s whatever works best for the customer,” Lozano said.

Customers generally choose to pay by credit card for convenience and for points, which can add up to a good rebate on a vehicle wrap that might cost $3,000, for example, Lozano said.

The company uses Stripe to handle its transactions on credit cards. Although it pays merchant fees, Wrapmate does not pass on any transaction fees to the customer.

“We basically bake that into our business,” Lozano said. “That’s just the process of doing business for us.”

Wrapping It All Up

In April, Wrapmate began offering a program for commercial vehicle dealers that enables dealers to sell vehicle wraps at the same time they’re selling the vehicle.

For end users, that means they can purchase the vehicle, equipment and wrap at one time, in one place, rather than having to take delivery of the vehicle and then drive it to a graphic professional to complete the job. For the dealer, it’s a new revenue stream and a way to supply customers with everything they need.

“It makes it very easy for the sales team to actually take them through the process of buying the vehicle, outfitting the vehicle, wrapping the vehicle — and they can wrap it all together into one financing,” Lozano said.

Paying Installers Through Stripe or Check

For the graphic professionals who install the vehicle wraps, Wrapmate pays in two installments: 50% when the initial deposit is received from the customer and 50% about 30 days after the installation.

The company most often pays the installers via Stripe. For any who do not have a Stripe account, Wrapmate will cut them a check.

“That’s not a big deal for us,” Lozano said. “In other cases, like if they’re a little bit larger vehicle wrap installation company, they’re pretty much well established when it comes to these forms of payments. Stripe has become a little bit more of a norm, if you will, for some businesses to accept online payments.”

Whichever method the end user chooses, they can get the wrap installed and the vehicle on the road, sporting new graphics that make it a mobile billboard.

“If you’re a business, this is great marketing — you’re going to be getting upwards of 70,000 impressions per day, just by driving your vehicle down the street to your next job,” Lozano said.