Challenge

When Tekmetric founder and CEO Sunil Patel ran his own auto repair shop from 2008 to 2017, he grew frustrated at the lack of software tailored to the needs of shop owners, who were still largely relying on pen and paper to track repair orders and keep the books. He saw a need for an all-in-one software solution that would simplify business operations tasks for shop owners, optimize the flow of funds, and perhaps most importantly, improve the customer experience.

“In the auto repair industry, trust and transparency are paramount, as customers are often worried about ensuring the services they receive are fair and honest. The best shop management system is one that fosters trust by enhancing efficiency and clear communication, giving customers full visibility into the repair process,” said Clare Corriveau, Tekmetric’s vice president of marketing.

Tekmetric launched in 2015 as a cloud-based shop management platform to help shops streamline repair orders, create jobs and estimates, manage inventory, order parts, and communicate with customers. Tekmetric formed a referral relationship with a third-party provider to process online payments for repair orders. But soon Tekmetric saw that it could deliver even more value to platform users by integrating payments directly into its shop management system. A payment solution that was embedded in repair order flows would help shops streamline time-consuming back-office tasks and eliminate confusion about which invoices had been paid. It would also create opportunities to enhance the end-customer experience. “We wanted our shops to be able to accept every payment method under the sun through whichever channel the customer prefers. And we wanted the payment experience to fit seamlessly into the more transparent and empowering customer experience we envisioned,” said Neil Patel, vice president of payments at Tekmetric.

Tekmetric sought a new payment provider that would go beyond the core processing function to enable innovative technologies. The provider would need to support multiple payment types, including buy now, pay later (BNPL) options and digital wallets such as Apple Pay, to meet customers’ desire for flexible, modern payment options.

Tekmetric saw additional opportunities to support the auto repair industry by continuing to integrate new features into its user-friendly platform, advancing Tekmetric’s goal of being not just a software provider, but an essential part of its customers’ business infrastructure. Increasing Tekmetric’s value as an all-in-one solution drives long-term adoption and increases customer lifetime value. The company needed a technology partner that it wouldn’t outgrow, so it was particularly interested in finding a payment provider that offered financial technologies adjacent to payments, such as financing and card issuing, that would allow the company to expand services to address more customer needs.

Solution

After a thorough selection process, Tekmetric chose to partner with Stripe. “We needed a provider that would allow us to improve the customer experience. We looked at all of the top players, and we settled on Stripe because it’s a technology-first company with the tools that we needed,” said Patel.

The company chose to implement Stripe Connect, which allowed it to move money compliantly between car owners, repair shops, and Tekmetric. The company used Stripe’s APIs to build a bespoke integration into its platform. This approach enabled seamless payments account management for shop owners, which supported Tekmetric’s goal of simplifying business operation and administrative functions. With Connect in place, Tekmetric could go on to optimize each stage in the movement of funds.

Tekmetric used Stripe Payments to process transactions and enhanced its payment processing with Stripe’s Optimized Checkout Suite, which includes Stripe Elements—a set of embeddable UI components that improve the checkout flow and drive conversion. With the Payment Element, Tekmetric was able to easily activate credit cards, as well as Apple Pay and three BNPL options: Affirm, Klarna, and Sunbit. BNPL is particularly useful for car owners facing costly emergency repairs. With BNPLs, end customers can protect their budgets by breaking the cost of large repairs into several smaller payments. Soon, Tekmetric will also offer Link, which autofills customers’ payment information for a secure, accelerated, and frictionless experience.

Tekmetric implemented Payment Links, another UI from the Optimized Checkout Suite, to support the repair order process. Shops can send customers individual quotes or estimates, and if the shop is quoting multiple possible repairs, Payment Links makes it easy for end customers to select which repairs they want to authorize and pay for just those.

With Stripe Terminal, Stripe’s point-of-sale solution, Tekmetric gave its auto shops the ability to accept in-person payments through the Tekmetric platform. Terminal’s ability to unify online and in-person payments helped Tekmetric solve a common challenge for auto shops: tracking pending repair orders and reconciling payments at the end of each month to get a clear picture of their finances. With detailed reports on both in-person and online payments, Tekmetric can help shops gain insights into their business, allowing them to make data-based decisions that promote growth in the short and long term. Solving this challenge also benefits Tekmetric by reducing off-platform payments.

A few months after launching with Stripe, Tekmetric had collected a massive amount of transaction data. To handle large data volumes reliably, Tekmetric integrated Stripe Data Pipeline, syncing its Stripe account with its data warehouse and allowing the company to access rich insights and track key business metrics to drive decision-making.

Results

Buy now, pay later options have tripled the average order volume for auto shops using Tekmetric

With buy now, pay later options available, car owners are less likely to put off or forgo important repairs. Tekmetric has seen average order volume triple for auto shops that have enabled BNPLs.

Integrating in-person payments saves auto shops hours every week

By integrating in-person payments directly into the Tekmetric platform, the company saves its auto shops 10 minutes per repair order on average. That adds up to hours saved every week, allowing shop owners to spend more time serving their customers and less time performing administrative tasks.

Quick access to data improves efficiency for finance teams

Tekmetric’s Data Pipeline integration has allowed the company to close its books more efficiently at the end of each month. “Not having to download multiple spreadsheet files and aggregate the data themselves has saved our finance team numerous hours,” said Patel. “And our payments, sales, and operations teams can use that data to make business and pricing decisions.”

Embedded components drive future innovation

After originally building a custom integration for its platform, Tekmetric is now updating its payment infrastructure to use Connect-embedded components to more quickly enable new Stripe features as they launch. For example, Tekmetric plans to use the Capital for Platforms embedded component, which will enable the company to easily integrate access to business financing for auto shops, without building this capability from scratch. Embedded components will help Tekmetric expand its financial service offerings and keep up with its customers’ evolving needs.

“We want to take advantage of all the great work that Stripe has been doing to continually add features,” said Patel. “Implementing embedded components will allow us to scale more quickly in the future, enhancing the experience for our customers and building a foundation that supports their continued success.”