Blog — Ekho

Act on Leads in Seconds, From Your Phone

The AI Sales Agent texts your reps when a lead needs them, and a short reply answers the buyer or puts a hot lead in their hands.

Oct 2, 2026 2 min read

Ethan Poortenga Founding Product Manager

Act on Leads in Seconds, From Your Phone

October 12, 2026

Transaction Engine AI Sales Agent

Search the whole Admin Portal from anywhere

Press Cmd+K (Ctrl+K on Windows) from any screen in the Admin Portal to find an order, lead, conversation, inventory unit or preorder, and open it right away. Every page and settings section you can reach, plus the records you opened last, show up before you even start typing.

Read the announcement

Improvements 4

Transaction Engine Buyers who pay in full can check out with Apple Pay in Safari on an iPhone, iPad or Mac, and approve the payment with Face ID or Touch ID. The option appears only on a device that can use it, and it is rolling out across dealer storefronts.
AI Sales Agent In the Admin Portal conversation view, your reps see what the buyer did with each form or booking the agent offered: completed it, has not opened it, or left it. When a rep answers a question from the agent, the question, the answer and the rep's name appear together on one card.
AI Sales Agent The Conversations inbox has the same department filter as Action items, so each team sees only the Sales, Finance, Parts, Service or General conversations that belong to it.
Transaction Engine Buyers can apply your dealer and manufacturer promotions in checkout whether they pay in full or finance. If an offer changes before the buyer submits, checkout shows the new total first.

API 3

Transaction Engine The API reference gains a Guides section. Its first guide walks a partner through keeping their own system in step with dealer inventory, from registering an inventory event destination to the first GET /inventory backfill and recovering missed deliveries.
Transaction Engine POST /carts/inventory and POST /carts/build-to-order accept nested JSON objects and arrays in metadata, and return the metadata exactly as the cart holds it.
Transaction Engine Ekho.checkout.createCart() accepts promoCodes, so a dealer site can apply the promotions it set up in the Admin Portal to the cart it creates. A code that does not apply is skipped and never blocks the cart.

October 5, 2026

AI Sales Agent

See what the buyer saw

A conversation in the Admin Portal shows the vehicle cards, bookings and pre-qualification results the buyer saw in web chat, where they saw them. A message sent from a nudge is marked as sent automatically.

Read the announcement

Improvements 12

AI Sales Agent Buyers can set their location in the AI Sales Agent chat with a Canadian postal code or city, as well as a US ZIP code or city.
AI Sales Agent A buyer who shared their contact details with the AI Sales Agent is not asked for them again after closing the tab or coming back to the site later in the same browser.
AI Sales Agent Each row in the Conversations inbox names the rep assigned to the lead, or shows Unassigned. The inbox keeps every conversation in one list, narrowed with search and filters.
Transaction Engine The Delivery section of Transaction Engine settings has an Estimated delivery time card, so you can change the delivery estimate on your orders yourself.
Transaction Engine The inventory table shows each vehicle's full name, so vehicles that differ only by package or color are easy to tell apart.
AI Sales Agent When a buyer's store has no match, the AI Sales Agent looks across your other stores and tells the buyer which one has the vehicle.
Transaction Engine The Reassign and Ship action item walks you through the MCO in three numbered steps, with the buyer's state requirements listed in the first.
Transaction Engine The orders table shows each order's stock number in its own column, and you can search orders by it.
Transaction Engine From a lender's credit app item, ask the buyer for information the lender needs before it takes an application, such as bank details, and review the answers before you submit. You can also clear a lender's conditions from the lender decision.
AI Sales Agent When a buyer asks to buy without visiting, the AI Sales Agent offers to connect them with your team and asks for their contact details, or follows your own remote buying process when you have described one.
AI Sales Agent Transaction Engine With ten or more accounts, the Switch account menu opens with a search field, so you can find a rooftop by typing its name.
AI Sales Agent When you add a lead or reach out to one, the Vehicle of interest picker searches the vehicles you have in stock, new and used.

September 28, 2026

AI Sales Agent

Act on leads in seconds from your phone

The AI Sales Agent texts a rep the moment a lead needs a person. A reply of a few words answers a buyer's question or puts a hot lead in the rep's hands to call, so it is even easier to turn leads into buyers.

Read the announcement

Fixes 1

AI Sales Agent The reply box in a conversation expands with a longer message, so you can read the whole reply before you send it.

Improvements 9

AI Sales Agent A department filter beside Filters narrows the Action items inbox to Sales, Finance, Parts, Service or General, with a count on each.
AI Sales Agent Each conversation shows the buyer's name, the channel and how recent it is, with the last message on one line and a clear mark on paused threads with an unread buyer message.
AI Sales Agent A dealer group's account sees the leads at each of its rooftops and can work them the same way the rooftop can: stage, assignee, notes, outreach and action items.
Transaction Engine Buyers who pay in full can finish in express checkout by card or by bank transfer, without leaving the flow. Express checkout starts from the buyer's cart, so the promotions and ad attribution on it carry through to the order.
AI Sales Agent Hand a paused conversation back to the Sales Agent straight from its action item, with an optional note for the agent. When you mark a reply item complete, the portal offers to hand the conversation back for you.
Transaction Engine Financed buyers see what their insurance policy needs to list before they choose how to get covered. A buyer whose order is still being prepared sees what they are waiting for and gets an email when they can continue.
AI Sales Agent Transaction Engine Integrations has its own item in the Admin Portal's left navigation, directly under Settings, with the same tabs and cards as before.
Transaction Engine An order's fulfillment details name the pickup location for a pickup, and the dealer coordinating delivery for a delivered vehicle.
AI Sales Agent Move an action item, and the lead behind it, to another rep from the Action items inbox, without opening the lead.

API 1

Transaction Engine Updating a location through POST /locations with a new address in the same state moves it there. A change that cannot be applied safely returns a conflict and leaves the location as it was.

September 21, 2026

AI Sales Agent Transaction Engine

An Action items inbox for leads and orders

A new Action items tab under Inbox collects every open item your team needs to handle to keep a lead or an order moving. Filter by item type or by assignee, and the tab opens on the items assigned to you.

Read the announcement

Improvements 2

AI Sales Agent Most action items ask for a single answer, such as a unit's price, and the Sales Agent writes the reply to the buyer and keeps the conversation going. The agent handles more buyer questions on its own and asks your team only when it needs information you have, or when a buyer needs a person.
AI Sales Agent When a lead arrives by ADF from a marketplace, a listing site, or a manufacturer website, the buyer's comments carry over to the lead details, so your team sees what the buyer asked without leaving the lead.

September 14, 2026

AI Sales Agent

Take leads from any source

Ekho reads the standard automotive lead format, so a lead from any site that sends it becomes a lead in your CRM that the AI Sales Agent answers. Autotrader, Cars.com, CarGurus, CycleTrader, ATV Trader and your own website forms all reach one address.

Read the announcement

Improvements 5

AI Sales Agent Business Details now offers Canadian time zones, including the two that keep a fixed offset year round rather than moving with daylight saving. A Canadian rooftop can set the zone its business hours actually run on.
AI Sales Agent Ekho reads the department a buyer wants more accurately across your website forms and inbound text messages, so a parts or service question stops arriving as a sales enquiry. The department travels with the lead and shows as its own column in the CRM.
Transaction Engine Running more than one rooftop from one account is easier. Work that belongs to a rooftop in your network is now reachable by the people who own it.
Transaction Engine Buyers can share a vehicle from its listing page, from the bar that follows them down the page, and from the payment card, so a shopper can send a unit to a partner or a friend without copying the address out of the browser. Share is always on and sits outside your call-to-action settings.
Transaction Engine Units move through the steps that make them eligible for online sale with less waiting, so more of your stock is available to buy online and it gets there faster.

API 4

Transaction Engine POST /carts/inventory builds a checkout cart for a dealer unit named by inventory_id, and POST /carts/build-to-order builds one for a vehicle named by manufacturer_id, model_id, variant_id and style_id. Both take carts:write and return a checkout_url to send a buyer to. A new manufacturers:read route returns a catalog vehicle with its trim and model inline, so a partner can name a vehicle before any transaction exists.
Transaction Engine GET /inventory and GET /inventory/{id} return a dealer's stock under a new inventory:read scope, with catalog_vehicle on every item and location available through expand[]. Each item carries a pricing block with advertised and compare_at, both base vehicle prices, and the same block rides on the inventory.created and inventory.updated webhooks.
Transaction Engine GET /locations, POST /locations and DELETE /locations/{location} let a program owner set which dealerships act as its pickup and last-leg delivery points, under locations:read and locations:write. A repeat write updates rather than conflicts, so a nightly full sync is safe.
Transaction Engine mark-pickup-scheduled and mark-pickup-fulfilled join the postable partner actions on POST /orders/{order}/vehicles/{vehicle}/action-items/{action}, under orders:write. An order a buyer collects in person can now be advanced over the API rather than only in the portal.

September 7, 2026

AI Sales Agent

Ask every buyer to review your dealership on Google

Automatically ask each buyer for a public review of your dealership when their deal closes. Choose the deal stages in Ekho or your CRM that count, and Ekho texts the buyer once with your Google Business Profile review link, or a review page you choose, plus an optional follow-up if they have not clicked.

Read the announcement

Transaction Engine

More vehicles available for online purchase

Vehicles that were waiting on confirmed details now go on sale online as soon as Ekho holds complete, consistent data for that vehicle, so more of your inventory is available to buy online, sooner.

Read the announcement

Improvements 1

Transaction Engine Checkout now carries a buyer's ad-click and analytics identifiers from your site through to purchase, so Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and Google credit the ad that started the visit.

August 31, 2026

Transaction Engine

Your listing blurb on the vehicle page

The short blurb you write on your own listings now appears on the vehicle page, in a Purchase details box beneath the location and delivery cards. The words you chose to sell a unit reach the buyer who is reading about it.

Read the announcement

AI Sales Agent

Widget links across a dealer group

Someone working at group level can create widget links for the whole group. The list offers only the actions every active rooftop can carry out, so a buyer never lands on one their own rooftop cannot complete.

Read the announcement

Transaction Engine AI Sales Agent

A rebuilt documentation hub

Ekho's documentation is rebuilt around four sections: buyers, the AI Sales Agent, the Transaction Engine, and a full API reference. The buyer and AI Sales Agent guides are open in full, the Transaction Engine opens on a preview, and the API reference appears once an Ekho client signs in.

Read the announcement

Improvements 3

Transaction Engine The buy buttons you embed on your own site render only on units a shopper can purchase online right now. A unit that is not ready for online sale shows no button at all.
AI Sales Agent The leads table shows the stage each lead sits at in your CRM, and you can filter the table by it. The column appears wherever there is stage data to show.
Transaction Engine The preorder confirmation screen spells out what happens next, and confirms the buyer's deposit and their place in the delivery queue.

API 2

Transaction Engine catalog_vehicle now publishes the four ids that place a vehicle in the Ekho catalog: oem_id, model_id, variant_id, and style_key. Each is null for a vehicle the catalog does not yet describe. variant_id with style_key is the pair that names a build-to-order vehicle when creating a cart, so a partner can match on ids rather than on catalog_vehicle.name.
Transaction Engine A webhook destination now takes a list of event types in eventTypes, so a single endpoint URL and a single signing secret can cover every event you subscribe to.

August 24, 2026

Transaction Engine

Checkout for preorder vehicles

Dealers can sell preorder vehicles ordered directly from the manufacturer through Ekho's fast checkout flow, not just inventory already on the lot. Buyers picking up in person can also choose from multiple pickup locations.

Read the announcement

AI Sales Agent

AI Sales Agent online checkout toggle

Dealers with the Transaction Engine can let their AI Sales Agent guide a buyer straight into checkout during the conversation, instead of only answering questions about buying online. Turn it on or off from Capabilities in Admin Portal.

Read the announcement

Fixes 7

Transaction Engine Vehicle images load fully during checkout, without partial renders.
Transaction Engine Checkout availability checks catch a mistyped ZIP code instead of reporting the area as unavailable.
Transaction Engine Deal creation completes reliably for dealers using their CRM integration.
Transaction Engine Rental units synced from your DMS are excluded from inventory and accessory totals.
Transaction Engine PIN entry boxes are sized and spaced for easy tapping on mobile.
AI Sales Agent The pre-qualification modal appears above the AI Sales Agent chat widget, not behind it.
Transaction Engine Vehicle listing cards show their final purchase buttons immediately, without an intermediate flash.

Improvements 4

Transaction Engine Checkout loads quicker on desktop, even for large inventories.
Transaction Engine On orders where Ekho is the seller of record, buyers can now pay by expedited ACH in all 50 states, with same-day confirmation of funds.
Transaction Engine Each lender's financing offer appears as its own card with a price and payment breakdown, making offers easier to compare before accepting.
AI Sales Agent Rep text replies at multi-location dealer groups send from the right location's phone number.

API 1

Transaction Engine The external API's vehicle field is renamed to catalog_vehicle on preorder and purchased-vehicle resources and their webhooks. Vehicle build options split into catalog_vehicle.specs and pga, and fulfillment_details.assigned_account_name reports the servicing account's name.

August 17, 2026

AI Sales Agent

AI Sales Agent nudges reference the vehicle a buyer is viewing

Nudges are targeted to the kind of page they appear on, and the AI Sales Agent can name the vehicle a buyer is viewing or viewed earlier in the same visit. Per rooftop control of the exact wording is in development.

Read the announcement

AI Sales Agent

The AI Sales Agent remembers returning buyers

Once a buyer shares their contact info with the AI Sales Agent, it's remembered for the rest of that session. Texting in, booking a visit, or getting pre-qualified again no longer asks for the same details twice.

Read the announcement

AI Sales Agent

The AI Sales Agent is officially live

The AI Sales Agent answers on the website and over text in under five seconds, at any hour, and can carry a conversation through to a completed purchase.

Read the announcement

AI Sales Agent

Start a new text conversation from the inbox

The AI Sales Agent inbox can start a new text conversation with a lead, not just continue one a customer starts. A rep picks a number, adds vehicle context, and sends the first message.

August 10, 2026

AI Sales Agent

Automated outreach to CRM leads

Leads that arrive from a dealer's own CRM can now be worked by the AI Sales Agent's automated outreach. Leads the team is already working are left alone.

Read the announcement

AI Sales Agent

Two-way Lightspeed CRM sync

Leads, customers and sales activity move in both directions, so the CRM stays the system of record.

Read the announcement

Transaction Engine

Per-dealer Learn links

Dealers can point the storefront's Learn menu at their own pages.

AI Sales Agent

Texts from new numbers start a conversation

A prospect who texts a dealer's published number gets an answer even with no lead on file. The message opens a conversation and records the buyer's consent.

AI Sales Agent

Proactive nudges on the chat launcher

The chat launcher speaks first with a short prompt above it, targeted to the kind of page it appears on. Per rooftop control of the exact wording is in development.

Fixes 8

AI Sales Agent Conversations resumed from an inbound text appear in the list, in search, and in the lead drawer.
Transaction Engine The Ekho Express buy button resets when a buyer presses back from checkout.
AI Sales Agent The lead drawer shows current CRM sync status each time it opens.
Transaction Engine The sign-in screen is tidier and easier to work through.
Transaction Engine A buyer who pre-qualifies on the storefront is not asked again at checkout.
AI Sales Agent Salesforce field mapping dropdowns stay inside their own column.
AI Sales Agent Smart reply fields show how much of the character limit is left.
Transaction Engine Fees that come to nothing are left off the order and its paperwork.

Improvements 6

Transaction Engine A unit that disappears from your website is hidden, not archived. Archiving stays your call.
Transaction Engine See which program an order belongs to and which account sold it, and filter by either.
AI Sales Agent Salesforce apps using the client credentials grant can connect, and you can map extra fields.
Transaction Engine Dealer groups that list every rooftop on one inventory page can sync each rooftop separately.
AI Sales Agent Single-rooftop dealers who sign up themselves can open their pre-qualification settings.
Transaction Engine AI Sales Agent Pre-qualification is standardised across the storefront, checkout and the chat widget.

API 1

Transaction Engine Read orders over the partner API and subscribe to webhooks for order events.

August 3, 2026

AI Sales Agent

Texting from the portal

Native texting with photo and video attachments, and a web chat that can continue over SMS.

Read the announcement

Fixes 4

AI Sales Agent Appointment slots the agent offers leave dealers enough time to staff them.
AI Sales Agent The agent finds the vehicle when a buyer names a model family rather than a trim.
Transaction Engine Document signing links stay valid however long a signer takes.
Transaction Engine Express checkout carries the dealer's own logo in its header.

Improvements 8

Transaction Engine Address suggestions at checkout are more accurate.
AI Sales Agent Dealers without the Transaction Engine can set a credit score floor and pre-qualify buyers.
AI Sales Agent Limit each CRM to the departments it should receive. Every lead still lands in Ekho.
Transaction Engine Buyers learn their postcode is outside the primary market area before checkout, not during it.
Transaction Engine The credit application arrives pre-filled with more of what the buyer has already given us.
Transaction Engine The temporary tag email sets out any follow-up steps the buyer needs to take for their vehicle.
AI Sales Agent The agent responds faster on the web.
AI Sales Agent A redesigned chat widget, with saved form drafts so a buyer who steps away does not start over.

API 1

Transaction Engine lead.updated now fires when a buyer changes their name, phone or address.

July 27, 2026

AI Sales Agent

Automated lead routing

Lead routing decides the department, the person in it and the escalation criteria automatically.

Read the announcement

AI Sales Agent

Widget rebuild, and pre-qualification

The widget is rebuilt around booking and pre-qualification, so a buyer gets from browsing to a confirmed time in fewer steps.

Read the announcement

AI Sales Agent

Web chat in the buyer's language

Dealers choose which of 25 languages, including Spanish, the AI Sales Agent offers on each website. The agent detects the buyer's language from their first message and keeps the conversation in it, the buyer can switch language from the chat widget, and a web chat that continues over text stays in the same language.

Transaction Engine AI Sales Agent

Cookie consent for the Ekho script

Dealers can require a visitor's consent before the Ekho script sets any cookie or loads any tracking, which regions with opt-in privacy rules need.

Fixes 5

Transaction Engine Admin Portal tables stay responsive when every row in a view is unavailable.
Transaction Engine Improvements to F&I, aftermarket coverage contracts and the order of signature execution.
Transaction Engine Units a DMS feed reports as available stay live on the storefront.
AI Sales Agent Proactive chat nudges are live.
Transaction Engine A shared storefront listing previews under the dealer's own brand.

Improvements 3

AI Sales Agent Buyers open a form from the conversation instead of being moved into it.
Transaction Engine The portal names what a listing still needs before the unit can sell.
Transaction Engine Shop results lead with photographed listings nearest the shopper.

July 20, 2026

Fixes 5

Transaction Engine Buyers can enter a promo code at every checkout, including code-only stores.
Transaction Engine The credit application names the exact fields that need attention.
Transaction Engine Inventory imports are more resilient.
Transaction Engine Publishing tells you why a unit cannot go live, and CSV inventory passes the readiness check.
AI Sales Agent Dealers signing up on their own can leave and resume at any step.

Improvements 4

Transaction Engine Checkout loads 38% faster on a first visit.
Transaction Engine Buyers who are declined for financing get clearer follow-up steps.
Transaction Engine Buyers get tracking by email as soon as their temp tag ships.
Transaction Engine Connect inventory over an existing XML feed, with no re-platforming.

API 1

Transaction Engine Read preorders with GET /preorders, authenticated with scoped API tokens.

July 13, 2026

AI Sales Agent

Self-serve Salesforce CRM setup

Connect Salesforce from Settings without an implementation call. Every field in the CRM config is self-serve, and credentials are stored encrypted.

Read the announcement

AI Sales Agent Transaction Engine

Your logo and account switching in the Admin Portal

Upload your own logo and move between accounts from one menu in the top left of the Admin Portal.

Fixes 8

Transaction Engine AI Sales Agent Admin Portal exports download faster.
AI Sales Agent The agent answers hours of operation and lists only upcoming appointments.
AI Sales Agent The agent keeps to services the dealer offers, and never promises a vehicle transfer.
Transaction Engine Checkout reuses the address a buyer already gave, and names the error when a submit fails.
AI Sales Agent Lead rotation always keeps a rep, so an inbound lead never lands with no owner.
AI Sales Agent Improved mobile chat experience on iOS.
AI Sales Agent Text us creates a routed lead and sends the buyer an opening text.
Transaction Engine Less punitive requirements on eligibility for online sales of used street-legal units.

Improvements 5

AI Sales Agent A richer filtering experience for conversations.
AI Sales Agent See whether each lead reached your CRM, and open it there in one click.
AI Sales Agent Admin Portal forms accept and validate phone numbers outside the US.
Transaction Engine Improvements to the review of lienholder details on insurance policies.
AI Sales Agent Buyers get short, tidy links in texts, and links to your files can be revoked.

July 6, 2026

AI Sales Agent

Authorized brands and carried categories

The agent only speaks to the brands and categories a rooftop actually carries, and routes the buyer on when it does not.

Read the announcement

Improvements 4

AI Sales Agent The conversations view is easier to work through.
AI Sales Agent Escalation alerts name the role that owns the reply.
Transaction Engine Buyers can record their policy and add the supporting documents afterwards.
Transaction Engine Buyers get their lender payment setup details as soon as the loan funds.

June 29, 2026

Transaction Engine

More than one F&I coverage setup

A dealership account can hold several F&I coverage providers at once, each with its own products. The buyer still sees one menu.

Read the announcement

Fixes 2

Transaction Engine Select rows in an Admin Portal table and act on them together.
AI Sales Agent Improved mobile chat experience on iOS.

Improvements 4

AI Sales Agent The agent answers buyers faster and more accurately.
Transaction Engine AI Sales Agent Units can be listed for lead generation sooner.
Transaction Engine Open an order's reference details from the order number, and see its VIN, buyer and lender.
AI Sales Agent Smart replies read naturally and use your current pricing, inventory and hours.

June 22, 2026

Transaction Engine

Financing offer terms and stipulations

Each lender row on an order expands to show the offer terms and any outstanding stipulations, so a conditional approval reads clearly.

Fixes 4

AI Sales Agent The agent quotes vehicle details straight from inventory.
AI Sales Agent Better visibility into which inventory sources are live for a dealer.
AI Sales Agent Every buyer promised a callback has a rep assigned to them.
Transaction Engine An improved filtering experience on the storefront for model-year range.

Improvements 4

Transaction Engine Clearer fee breakdowns at checkout.
AI Sales Agent An escalation email links straight to the conversation in the Admin Portal.
AI Sales Agent Buyers see every card the agent triggers in a turn, not only the last.
Transaction Engine Recommended results lead with listings that have photos.

June 15, 2026

AI Sales Agent

Configurable outbound follow-up

Dealers choose which leads get automated follow-up, and can see where follow-up stands on a lead.

Read the announcement

AI Sales Agent

Conversation summaries in the thread

Every conversation carries a written summary.

Improvements 3

AI Sales Agent Improved mobile and desktop chat experience.
Transaction Engine Listing price and availability stay closer to your own site.
AI Sales Agent Install Ekho on a dealer site with a single script tag, no tag manager.

API 1

Transaction Engine Start a checkout from the SDK with createCart() and redirect().

May 25, 2026

Transaction Engine

Ad conversion tracking across six platforms

Connect your own Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Meta, TikTok, Google Ads and Tracklution accounts per rooftop, and report down-funnel checkout milestones as conversions rather than page views.

Read the announcement

AI Sales Agent

An agent for every rooftop in a group

A group runs a parent account with a child account per rooftop, so each store has its own agent, inventory and routing while the group keeps one set of defaults. Every agent knows what the other locations carry.

Read the announcement

May 18, 2026

Transaction Engine

Promotions and discounts

Dealers and manufacturers set up promotions with their own eligibility rules, and every offer a buyer qualifies for is priced into their deal at checkout.

Read the announcement

AI Sales Agent

A brand-scoped agent for a manufacturer's own site

A manufacturer can run the AI Sales Agent on its corporate site, scoped to its own brand and its authorized dealers' vehicles. Buyers are handed to the nearest dealer, whose own agent picks the conversation up.

Read the announcement

April 13, 2026

AI Sales Agent

Knowledge Hub

Upload any number of documents in Admin Portal and the AI Sales Agent answers from them, on web chat and over SMS.

Read the announcement

March 30, 2026

Transaction Engine

Condition and history reports on used units

Used listings can carry cosmetic, mechanical, title and history, and dealer warranty reports, each published at the dealership's discretion.

Read the announcement

February 23, 2026

AI Sales Agent

The AI Sales Agent answers inbound leads at any hour, on the website and over text. It answers inventory questions, qualifies the buyer and books the appointment.

February 16, 2026

Dealer Website Grader

Grade any dealership website for free and see how it shows up in AI search, in Google, and against nearby competitors.

Read the announcement

January 12, 2026

Transaction Engine

Embedded F&I: Financing Built Into Checkout

F&I moves into the checkout itself. Dealers present coverage inside the flow, and the menu adapts to the buyer and the dealer.

Read the announcement

November 17, 2025

Transaction Engine AI Sales Agent

Intelligent Inventory Merchandising

Client inventory from dealers, dealer groups, OEMs, and marketplaces is matched to the right catalog vehicle and enriched automatically, so every listing is complete and discoverable. The same record gives the AI Sales Agent deeper knowledge of each vehicle and supplies the details the Transaction Engine needs for titling and registration.

Read the announcement

September 8, 2025

Transaction Engine

Lead Capture: Convert More Visitors Into Buyers

The new Lead Capture module gives dealers a suite of conversion tools — smart forms, exit-intent overlays, and contextual CTAs — all designed to turn anonymous website traffic into actionable leads. Every captured lead flows directly into the Ekho CRM with full attribution and engagement history.

Read the announcement

BEST PRACTICES Oct 27, 2026

How to Measure the Modern Dealership Funnel

Lead count and closing rate see one step of a buyer’s journey. Measure the rest.

Will Koch Dealer Growth

ANNOUNCEMENTS Oct 13, 2026

Find Anything From Anywhere in the Admin Portal

Press Cmd+K (Ctrl+K on Windows) from any screen in the Admin Portal and jump straight to the order, lead or conversation you need.

Chris Howard Co-Founder and CTO

BEST PRACTICES Oct 13, 2026

The Old Dealership Funnel Is Costing You Units

Your buyers did the research before the form. The old funnel still acts as if they did not.

Will Koch Dealer Growth

ANNOUNCEMENTS Oct 9, 2026

See What the Buyer Saw

A conversation in the Admin Portal shows the vehicle cards, bookings and results the buyer saw in web chat, where they saw them.

Mark Lyons Engineering

COMPANY Oct 8, 2026

Welcoming Mark Lyons, Software Engineer

Mark Lyons joins Ekho as a Software Engineer, from Meta, where he worked on the Instagram profile.

Rowan Mockler Cofounder, CEO

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP Oct 6, 2026

Our First Letter to the Industry

Five beliefs, what is live and what is not, and three things to do this year. Next year’s letter grades this one.

Rowan Mockler Cofounder, CEO

COMPANY Oct 6, 2026

Welcoming Ben Nussbaum, Account Executive

Ben Nussbaum joins Ekho as an Account Executive, from EVx, the rebates and incentives company he founded.

Rowan Mockler Cofounder, CEO

ANNOUNCEMENTS Sep 29, 2026

One Inbox for What the Sales Agent Needs From You

Action items now have their own inbox, and most ask your team for one answer. The Sales Agent writes the reply and keeps the buyer moving.

Rodrigo Chousal Cantu Engineering

PARTNERSHIPS Sep 21, 2026

National Powersports Distributors Partners with Ekho

One of the country’s largest pre-owned powersports dealer groups puts an always-on AI Sales Agent on every lead.

Rowan Mockler Cofounder, CEO

ANNOUNCEMENTS Sep 17, 2026

Take Leads From Any Source, Answered by the Agent

Ekho reads the standard automotive lead format, so an enquiry from any site that sends it becomes a lead the agent answers.

Eugenio Garza Garcia Forward Deployed Engineer

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP Sep 16, 2026

Who owns the advertised price? The FTC just answered

The FTC named everyone who owns the advertised price, and dealers finally have company.

Rowan Mockler Cofounder, CEO

PARTNERSHIPS Sep 15, 2026

Ekho Teams Up with Progressive to Bring Real-Time Insurance to Online Vehicle Checkout

Embedded, real-time insurance in checkout, powered by Progressive Insurance®.

Brian Sloan Partnerships

What topics does the Ekho blog cover?

We write about AI trends in vehicle retail, dealer best practices for online sales, partnership announcements, product updates, and industry research — including our annual AI vehicle research study.

Are the case studies based on real dealers?

Yes. Every case study features a real Ekho partner with verified results. We work directly with dealers and OEMs to document their experience and share learnings with the industry.

Where can I learn more about Ekho's products?

Visit our product pages for detailed information on AI Sales Agent, Website, and Transaction Engine — or book a demo to see the platform in action with your inventory.

Act on Leads in Seconds, From Your Phone

Start a new text conversation from the inbox

Per-dealer Learn links

Texts from new numbers start a conversation

Proactive nudges on the chat launcher

Web chat in the buyer's language

Cookie consent for the Ekho script

Your logo and account switching in the Admin Portal

Financing offer terms and stipulations

Conversation summaries in the thread

AI Sales Agent

How to Measure the Modern Dealership Funnel

Find Anything From Anywhere in the Admin Portal

The Old Dealership Funnel Is Costing You Units

See What the Buyer Saw

Welcoming Mark Lyons, Software Engineer

Our First Letter to the Industry

Welcoming Ben Nussbaum, Account Executive

One Inbox for What the Sales Agent Needs From You

National Powersports Distributors Partners with Ekho

Take Leads From Any Source, Answered by the Agent

Who owns the advertised price? The FTC just answered

Ekho Teams Up with Progressive to Bring Real-Time Insurance to Online Vehicle Checkout

More of Your Inventory, Ready to Buy Online

Ask Every Buyer to Review Your Dealership on Google, Automatically

How We Built Our Own Deck Tool in Three Days

Ekho's Documentation Hub, Rebuilt

Widget Links Now Work Across a Dealer Group

Your Listing Copy Now Reaches the Buyer

Preorder Vehicles Get Ekho's Fast Checkout

The AI Sales Agent Can Now Guide a Buyer Into Checkout

The AI Sales Agent Remembers Returning Buyers

The Ekho AI Sales Agent Is Officially Live

Nudges That Know the Vehicle

Two-Way Lightspeed CRM Sync Is Live

The AI Sales Agent Now Works Your Dormant CRM Leads

Welcoming Ethan Poortenga, Founding Product Manager

Welcoming Tommy Xue, AI Product Manager

Welcoming Eugenio Garza Garcia, Forward Deployed Engineer

Welcoming Ekho's General Counsel: Justin Black

Where We Have Been

Text Buyers From the Portal, With Photos and Video

A Redesigned Widget, and Pre-Qualification on Your Terms

Automated Lead Routing Is Live

Checkmate in Plain Sight: How RumbleOn Bought the Powersports Industry While Nobody Was Watching

The DMS Is Not Dead. It’s Just Doing the Wrong Job.

Read Preorders Over the API

Checkout Loads 38% Faster

The Greeter Problem

The Two Problems Killing Powersports Growth

Dealers Don’t Have a Vendor Problem. They Have a Partner Problem. This Is Your Wake-Up Call.

The Complete Guide to AI Sales Agents for Vehicle Dealerships (2026)

Connect Salesforce Yourself, and See Every Lead Land

Vendor Stacks Are Dead. Long Live the DealershipOS.

The AI Sales Agent Speaks to the Brands You Actually Carry

AI Isn’t Coming for Your Job. It’s Coming for the Way You Worked Yesterday.

What is an AI Agent, and What Can It Do for My Dealership? The Complete Guide to How AI Agents Make You More Money

The Unbundling Is Over. The Rebundling Has Begun.

How Do I Sell Vehicles Online? The Complete Guide to Financing, Titling, and Registration in All 50 States

Your Store Can Now Run More Than One F&I Provider

The $50B Dealer Tax: What Your Stack Really Costs

You’re Paying for the Traffic. You’re Answering 1.5% of It.

Follow-Up Schedules Are Live

Ekho Express: Put Buying on Any Page

20 Email Marketing Mistakes Vehicle Dealerships Need to Stop Making in 2026

Every Rooftop Gets Its Own AI Sales Agent

Ad Conversion Tracking, Across Every Platform You Run

Facebook Ads Are Bleeding Dealership Budgets. Here’s the Fix.

Local SEO for Vehicle Dealerships: How to Win “Near Me” Search in 2026

The 800-Pound Gorilla Just Got a Franchise License

PR for Vehicle Dealerships in 2026: The Modern Earned-Trust Playbook

Your Inventory Is the Same as the Dealer Down the Road. Your Brand Doesn't Have to Be.

The Wall-Poster Trap: Why Most Dealership Values Quietly Stop Mattering by Tuesday

The AI Sales Agent Now Runs on Your Corporate Site, Tethered to Your Dealers

How Powersports, Marine & Auto Dealerships Promote Their Business in 2026

The Vehicle Dealer's Content Playbook: Turning a Blog Into a Lead Engine

The 2026 Vehicle Dealership Marketing Playbook

Promotions and Discounts That Reach the Deal

The To-Don’t List: What the Best Vehicle Dealerships Stop Doing in 2026

AI-First Dealership? Wrong Question. The Right One Is Build, Buy, or Partner.