Integration
vAuto integration for dealer websites
Zoomshop consumes standard vAuto inventory feeds via SFTP — the same feed vAuto exports to third-party marketplaces like AutoTrader and Cars.com. Every field vAuto tracks per vehicle flows into Zoomshop and drives the corresponding vehicle detail page automatically. vAuto stays your source of truth for pricing and merchandising; Zoomshop is the presentation layer.
What this integration does
vAuto is Cox Automotive’s inventory management and market-based pricing platform. It’s where you make inventory decisions — what to stock, what to price, what to move fast. For dealers using vAuto, the question of “which website platform” is really the question of “what surface presents your vAuto decisions to shoppers.”
Zoomshop is designed to be that surface without changing your vAuto workflow. You keep vAuto as the source of truth. Your team keeps working in vAuto exactly as they do today. Zoomshop reads the feed vAuto is already generating and turns every vehicle into a real, indexed, machine-readable page on your own domain.
The integration is boring by design. No dual-entry. No sync conflicts. No “which system is right” moments. vAuto exports, Zoomshop consumes, shoppers see the result on your site.
What data moves
| Field | Direction | Cadence |
|---|---|---|
| VIN, year, make, model, trim | vAuto → Zoomshop | With each feed |
| Mileage, condition, certified status | vAuto → Zoomshop | With each feed |
| Asking price, MSRP, dealer discount | vAuto → Zoomshop | With each feed |
| Photos (all uploaded images per VIN) | vAuto → Zoomshop | With each feed |
| Vehicle description | vAuto → Zoomshop | With each feed |
| Options, features, equipment | vAuto → Zoomshop | With each feed |
| Dealer notes / merchandising copy | vAuto → Zoomshop | With each feed |
| Sold status (vehicle removals) | vAuto → Zoomshop | With each feed |
| Lead submissions (form fills on VDPs) | Zoomshop → your CRM (not vAuto) | On submit, real-time |
The lead flow is worth calling out: leads generated on your Zoomshop-powered VDPs go directly to your CRM as standard ADF/XML — they do not route through vAuto. This is intentional. vAuto isn’t a lead management system, and adding another hop between shopper and CRM would slow response time and complicate attribution.
Setup requirements
From your side:
- Your vAuto account credentials (or ability to reach your vAuto rep to enable an SFTP export destination)
- Your CRM’s ADF/XML intake email address, or REST endpoint credentials if your CRM uses one
- About 30-45 minutes total across two conversations
From Zoomshop’s side:
- An SFTP endpoint configured to receive your vAuto feed
- Field mapping review against your specific vAuto configuration (some dealers have custom fields for certified programs, warranty tiers, or promotional pricing)
- A test lead pass into your CRM to verify attribution before launch
Typical timeline:
- Day 1: Kickoff call. Confirm your vAuto configuration, CRM setup, custom fields
- Day 1-2: Zoomshop provisions the SFTP endpoint. You (or your vAuto rep) point vAuto’s export at it
- Day 2-3: First full feed arrives. Zoomshop maps fields, runs full inventory sync, generates VDPs
- Day 3: Test lead sent through your CRM to verify attribution
- Day 4+: Ready for launch on your schedule
The variable is usually not the technical work — it’s how quickly your vAuto rep responds and whether custom field mapping is needed. Dealers with straightforward vAuto configurations often complete integration inside a week.
How lead attribution works
This is the part most dealer platforms handwave, so we’ll be specific.
When a shopper submits a form on your Zoomshop VDP (inquiry, test drive, financing pre-qual, trade-in), Zoomshop generates an ADF/XML lead containing:
- Prospect — the shopper’s name, email, phone, and any additional fields they provided
- Vehicle — the specific VIN, year, make, model, trim, and stock number of the vehicle they inquired about
- Vendor — your dealership as the receiving vendor
- Provider — Zoomshop as the source system
- Timestamp — when the submission happened
- Referring URL — the exact VDP URL they were viewing
- UTM parameters — preserved from wherever the shopper originally landed (Google, Meta, direct, etc.), passed through the session and attached to the lead
The lead delivers to your CRM’s ADF intake in seconds. Your CRM parses the XML, creates the lead record, and routes to the appropriate salesperson per your existing rules. The lead’s source shows as your dealership website (not as vAuto, not as a third-party marketplace).
For dealers running paid ads: because UTM parameters survive the full session and land in the CRM record, you can trace a specific closed sale back to the specific campaign, ad set, and creative that generated the click. This is the attribution loop most dealer platforms break — Zoomshop doesn’t.
Questions dealers ask
Does Zoomshop work with vAuto?
Yes. Zoomshop consumes standard vAuto inventory feeds via SFTP — the same feed format vAuto exports to third-party marketplaces like AutoTrader and Cars.com. Every field vAuto tracks per vehicle (VIN, year, make, model, trim, mileage, price, photos, description, options, condition, dealer notes) lands in Zoomshop and drives the corresponding vehicle detail page automatically.
How often does inventory update?
vAuto's standard SFTP export runs twice daily. Zoomshop picks up each feed and processes vehicle additions, price changes, and sold-vehicle removals as they arrive. For dealers on higher-frequency exports (some larger groups run hourly), Zoomshop matches the cadence.
What happens to lead attribution when a shopper submits a form on my Zoomshop-powered VDP?
Leads generated on Zoomshop VDPs flow to your CRM as standard ADF/XML — the universal automotive lead format accepted by VinSolutions, DriveCentric, DealerSocket, ELEAD, and every other modern automotive CRM. The lead includes vehicle-of-interest data (VIN, year/make/model), the referring page, the source ("your dealership website"), UTM parameters preserved from the shopper's original visit, and the timestamp. Attribution stays clean: the lead's source shows as your website, not as vAuto.
Do I keep using vAuto for pricing and merchandising?
Yes. vAuto stays your source of truth for inventory decisions — market-based pricing, vehicle scoring, appraisals, stocking recommendations. Zoomshop is the presentation layer. Nothing in your vAuto workflow changes; the website becomes a better output surface for the pricing and merchandising work you're already doing.
What's the setup process?
Your vAuto rep enables an SFTP export destination that points to a Zoomshop-provided endpoint. That takes about 10 minutes on their side. Zoomshop confirms first feed receipt, verifies field mapping against your specific vAuto configuration, and runs a full inventory sync before you launch. Total setup time from your side is usually one short call with your vAuto rep plus a review of the mapping (about 30-45 minutes).
What if my vAuto feed has custom fields or non-standard configurations?
vAuto exports vary by dealer — some groups have custom fields for condition packages, warranty, certified pre-owned tiers, or promotional pricing. Zoomshop supports custom field mapping as part of onboarding; anything vAuto exports we can pass through to the vehicle page. Non-standard configurations get reviewed on the onboarding call and mapped explicitly rather than assumed.
Does Zoomshop write back to vAuto?
By default, no — Zoomshop is a read-only consumer of your vAuto feed. Data flows from vAuto to Zoomshop; leads flow from Zoomshop to your CRM directly (via ADF/XML), not back through vAuto. This one-way pattern is intentional — it keeps vAuto as the sole source of truth for inventory and avoids any risk of Zoomshop overwriting your pricing or merchandising decisions.
Can I switch to Zoomshop if I'm mid-contract with my current dealer website vendor?
Yes. The vAuto feed itself is dealer-owned and can be routed to multiple destinations simultaneously — you can run your current site and Zoomshop in parallel during the transition, then cut over. Because the feed is vAuto's, your current vendor can't block or restrict Zoomshop's access to it.
Ready to see how this works on your site?
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