The Future of RTO Buying, AI, and Omnichannel Retail with AMPTAB

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What does the future of rent to own technology actually look like, and how can dealers stay competitive as AI, automation, and real time inventory systems reshape retail buying?

In this episode of The RTO Show Podcast, host Pete Shau sits down with Michael Costa from AMPTAB to explore how digital infrastructure, integrated ordering systems, and omnichannel retail tools are changing the way rent to own businesses source, manage, and sell products. 

From simplifying vendor catalogs and reducing buying friction to discussing AI powered product search, API integrations, customer facing kiosks, and the future of connected retail ecosystems, this conversation dives into the operational side of modern rent to own. 

What You’ll Learn:

• How AMPTAB helps rent to own dealers simplify purchasing and vendor management
•  Why real time inventory updates and API integrations are becoming essential in modern RTO operations
•  The role AI could play in product search, catalog management, and customer buying experiences
•  How RTO dealers can reduce buying anxiety and improve operational efficiency through centralized systems
•  Why data quality, product taxonomy, and digital infrastructure matter for future scalability

Episode Highlights:

• 00:07 – Why AMPTAB was created and how it entered the rent to own industry
•  03:36 – What AMPTAB actually does for furniture vendors and RTO dealers
•  09:46 – How centralized product catalogs simplify the dealer buying process
•  18:29 – The evolution of AMPTAB from vendor catalogs to integrated workflows
•  22:37 – How AMPTAB compares to other retail kiosk and omnichannel platforms
•  33:23 – What AI and intelligent product search could look like inside AMPTAB
•  35:38 – Why real time inventory and API integrations are changing RTO operations
•  41:02 – The search for the next “big product” in the rent to own industry
•  47:17 – Michael Costa’s vision for the future of connected retail ecosystems
•  51:58 – Why better product data and taxonomy could transform the RTO experience
•  58:02 – The biggest thing RTO dealers can do differently after hearing this episode

Meet the Guest:

Michael Costa is part of the leadership team at AMPTAB, an omnichannel sales and catalog platform used across the furniture, retail, and rent to own industries. He specializes in product workflow systems, retail integrations, customer support strategy, and scalable digital solutions for modern dealers. 

Tools, Frameworks, or Strategies Mentioned:

• AMPTAB omnichannel sales platform
•  AMPShop B2B ordering system
•  AMPAvenue retail kiosk platform
•  API integrations for real time inventory updates
•  ERP and QuickBooks connectivity workflows
•  Vendor taxonomy and centralized catalog management
•  Retail order approval workflows for RTO operations
•  AI powered product search and enhanced product discovery

Closing Insight:

“The future of rent to own technology depends on connected systems, accurate data, and making the buying process easier for both dealers and customers.”

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:07):
Hello and welcome to the RTO show.
I'm your host, Pete Chow, alongwith the producer, my man
Anthony over there.
And today we got somethingperfect lined up for you guys,
but I want to take care of somestuff.
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(00:29):
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(00:50):
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bring things like you and me,the information coming from our
guest today.
We're talking to Michael Costa,all the way from AnTab in

(01:11):
California, which is amazingbecause it looks nice and sunny
out there.
Looks great.
You guys having some goodweather?

SPEAKER_01 (01:18):
Oh, as as good as it can be, yeah.
And I expect it to get evenwarmer.

SPEAKER_00 (01:22):
Well, that's what we have in common.
It is getting hot over here.
Michael, I appreciate you beingon the show.
Listen, big fan of Amtab, butthere is a lot of things as I
was going into this, as I wastrying to do my research and
getting ready for this.
There was so much that I didn'tknow.
Now, a lot of RTO dealersactually use Amtab to buy some
of the product and supplies thatthey have to get things going.

(01:43):
Now, in that regard, I want youto explain it to me a little
bit.
First off, Patrick Hanleydecides to make this a couple
years ago, and then it grows andgrows and grows.
And now you have a lot ofproducts out there, but we only
use the AmTab.
So we'll talk about the RTOsection first.
But how did the idea first comeup?
And then where did you come intoAmtad to kind of help support

(02:04):
that?

SPEAKER_01 (02:05):
Yeah, the the company started, I want to say
13, 14 years ago, you know, withthe early research.
And I only know this fromretellings of the story, of
course, I wasn't there.
Um Patrick uh found an industrythat was uh lagging behind in
technology, this manufacturingsales industry for the
all-in-home space.

(02:26):
So your case goods, yourupholstery, rugs, lamps, what
have you.
Um and they they have a salesforce that travels the country,
visits retail stores, and at thetime they were just pulling out
these paper catalogs.
And these reps would representseveral brands.
So if you can imagine a dozen orso paper catalogs uh multiplied
by several you know markets overthe year.

(02:48):
Um and the problem with paper,besides it's heavy and uh takes
up space, is it's static, right?
Um so if there's pricefluctuations, inventory
information is not there, thesereps would have to call into the
office uh just to get an orderthrough.
So that the solution at the timewas hey, let's digitize this
process, let's make a website.

(03:10):
Well, to AMP's luck, uh Applereleased the first iPad at the
same time.
So AMP jumped in and was like,let's make an iPad app.
This is perfect.
We'll put this this trunk fullof paper catalogs into an iPad
in the rep's hands.
And that's where we started.
That's where uh we kind of gotour foothold into vendors
selling all this furniture.

(03:30):
Um, and then it expanded intoRTO where we learned a ton about
retail working with the RTOside.

SPEAKER_00 (03:36):
So for folks that have never really seen it, how
would you describe Amtab in likeone sentence, one summary to say
this is what it is?

SPEAKER_01 (03:45):
Yeah, it's a it's a sales platform that helps uh
companies gather all their salesmaterials into one location,
whether that's documents orphotography and videos, general
product romance, likedescriptive language.
And it helps sales reps generatepresentations and write orders
and quotes offline.

(04:05):
So using the iPad app, theydon't have to worry about
internet connection.
And then that you know, easilytranslated over to a website for
dealers to access that samecatalog so they can have the
same uh in-sync uh conversationwith their sales rep looking at
the same catalog for theirorders.

SPEAKER_00 (04:21):
So I'm kind of curious.
Let's say that I am, I'm you youcome to me, we're talking about
this.
I think Amtab is a great idea.
I sell furniture.
So I want to sell some furnitureon your Amtab, and I would think
that'd be a great idea.
But now maybe Ashley's on there,maybe Havertes is on there,
maybe somebody else is on there.
Why would I want to advertisewith that if you're gonna put my
product right next to somebodyelse's product and introduce us

(04:43):
in the same light?
I would, I would think, youknow, the thought process is
okay, maybe my guys are goingout there with some paper, and
trust me, I get it.
That's a little bit archaic, butat the same time, they're only
representing one brand.
If if if I have somebody thathas an Amtab, but I'm selling it
to dealers, dealers are gonnasee the three of lineup or 20
lineup of of furniture, youknow, case goods, whatever the

(05:05):
case is.
And now they kind of get to pickand choose.
Why would what would what makesAmtab enticing so that I could
say, hey, you want to be on thisplatform along with these other
furniture dealers because?

SPEAKER_01 (05:15):
Oh, believe me, we've heard that question uh
many times.
And and we have different, youknow, metaphors.
Patrick, our CEO, would like tosay, you know, this big market
everyone goes to in high point,which folks are at right now, uh
in in North Carolina, um, it'san equivalent to that.
You know, dealers are arevisiting these markets, these
trade shows, they're they'reheaded towards their

(05:37):
appointments to look at newfurniture.
Well, they're gonna pass a dozenother companies along the way,
right?
So that's the general idea isthis AMP marketplace.
But we have other solutions aswell.
We've built private lobbies inthe past where hey, only your
dealers will see your offeringwhen you invite them, as opposed
to the entire lobby.
But uh we're we're very uh whatwould you say, uh agnostic to

(06:02):
brand.
You know, we just want to helppeople connect.
That's that's our real value isthis networking effect.
We don't charge for a headcount,we don't charge for buyers to
log in.
We just want to make it asuseful as a platform as we can
by introducing folks, you know,passive leads through through
connecting vendors.

SPEAKER_00 (06:21):
You know, something that you had said just a a
little while ago is that youweren't there in the beginning,
you you've come along sincethen.
Uh, you know, doing a littlesearch, I have I see a lot of
different hats that you havealong the way.
And I don't know if if that'sright, because I I I see
customer support, I see uh thedirector of customer access, I
see VP of ContinuousImprovement.
It was that like uh uh thistrajectory going up and going in

(06:44):
and kind of getting deeper intothis the system as you came
along?

SPEAKER_01 (06:47):
It was.
Uh it's it's maybe my secretsauce is uh I'm just the guy who
says yes all the time.
Um and I come from a startupbackground where I'm used to
wearing as many hats aspossible.
It's it's more about what's thechallenge today and what great
is.

SPEAKER_00 (07:03):
Yeah.
My reduce is like, yeah, I knowexactly what he's talking about
over there.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (07:07):
I I'm not big on titles.
I I think you know most of thetime they're made up.
It's just it kind of representshow much experience you may have
had along the way.
Um, but we we all have the samegoal in my in my regard, is as
far as helping the customer withtheir what the new question is,
right?
Like, hey, we're here to sell.
How can you help us sell?

(07:27):
And that's what we do here.

SPEAKER_00 (07:29):
So at one point in time, AMPAB or our what what is
I know you as AMPAP.
What is the actual name of themother company for this?
Because I know AMPAP is probablyone part of it versus the
entire.
And I know that I'll get into alittle bit more because I see
AMP sell, AMP shop, AMP sites,AMP press, AMP Avenue, and AMP
API.
What is the actual name that Icould reference that would mean

(07:51):
all of that?

SPEAKER_01 (07:51):
Is the the technical name is AMP Tablet Solutions?
We prefer to shorten it to justAMP.
Um, and that's because welaunched with the iPad app,
right?
Tablet, AMP Tablet.
Um, and all those various namesreferences uh the new products
we've developed developed alongthe way.
So AMP shop is the B2B website.
Uh AMP press is our printgenerator, AMP sites is the

(08:14):
public website, and they allfeed from the same data, which
is which is kind of our goldenROI is you upload your data once
and you get six differentoutputs for all these different
use cases.

SPEAKER_00 (08:25):
Well, I mean, it sounds good.
I was actually named the besttechnology provider by furniture
to day readers, which wasawesome.
Um, but when I look at that, andand I'm trying to dial myself
into the RTO space and what itdoes.
I know that we use AmpTap.
Um, there are people that, youknow, they they put their
product on there, and asdealers, they go in, select, get
a purchase, and then have itcome in.

(08:46):
Is there any of these productsthat would actually mean
anything to the rent-ownedindustry that they might want to
get involved with it?

SPEAKER_01 (08:51):
Yeah, absolutely.
So the the product they'd bemost familiar with is AMP shop.
That's the B2B website.
Um an extension of that isactually a product not even
named on the website is ourretail order workflow.
So we have several RTO uh retailchains that that also pay for an
AMP subscription for a curatedsingle catalog in AMP.

(09:14):
So instead of shopping 20different vendors at a time, you
shop a branded singular catalogthat has all the vendors mixed
together.
Um these retailers are able toinstall order writing rules and
approval steps.
And once the order is placed, itsends its way over to the vendor
in AMP.
So that's a curated retailexperience.

(09:35):
Uh beyond that, AMP Avenue is akiosk designed for retail
stores.
So if you like what you see onAMP shop, there's a
consumer-friendly version youcan put on a touch screen in
your store.

SPEAKER_00 (09:45):
Well, help me out because you with the way you
said at Dam Shop, and I justwant to make sure that I
understand it.
When you say, you know, you'renot going to uh brand specific,
so does that mean that myscooter might end up next to
another scooter and we arecompletely different?
We are competing brands, but youwouldn't know that.
Basically, it's whatever scooterthat they like the most.
There's going to be five there,it could be from five different
brands.
I'm going to select that.

(10:07):
So so for lack of a better term,it looks like a a Walmart
website, right?
There's no, there's really notthe brand thing.
It's like I look in for ascooter and it gives me whatever
comes up available.
What advantage is that for uhfor uh if I'm if I'm trying to
sell my product, you know, it'sgreat for an RTO dealer, right?
I I agree that you know whenyou're looking at that way and
they're looking for a specificproduct, it helps them dial in a

(10:28):
lot quicker and find out whatthey need from multiple areas
and pick make their own choice.
As a as a vendor though, what isthe advantage of that?

SPEAKER_01 (10:35):
Yeah, it's a fair question because you know it's
kind of that unspoken rule.
We we like to pretend nobody'sshopping around, but we all know
we do, right?
Um, so it's really you know,it's an opportunity.
Hey, your your competition isoffering their products to to
your buyer.
You need to be right there,locked step with them.
And then compete in other ways.

(10:56):
Compete with better data,compete with more reliable data.
Hey, we have inventory updatedevery hour.
We're competing on prices inyour in your area or shipping.
Um I understand you know thehesitation of why would I want
to show my product next to mycompetitor?
It's already happening.
We just don't like to talk aboutit.

SPEAKER_00 (11:13):
So in other words, I could look at yours, then go to
another website, then go toanother website.
What you're saying is instead ofshopping all the way around, let
me give you an outlook, and thenwhat really is saying is it you
know, let your products be foritself.

SPEAKER_01 (11:24):
Exactly.
And furthermore, that's theinitial value prop AMP came into
the market with is we heard abunch of frustration from the
the buyers that they've got 20different logins to try and do
their sourcing for their stores,different websites to navigate.
I can't remember my password.
And if I'm giving my my storemanagers the same list of

(11:45):
passwords and turnover and allthat, uh is it was just a
headache.
So AMP's value was we're gonnagive you one login to see all of
your vendors in the same websitelayout.
And now we just made it evenmore convenient.

SPEAKER_00 (11:59):
Buying simplicity.
Yeah, exactly.
Now I see 60 plus vendorcatalogs available through AMP
Avenue.
Uh how does a vendor get intothat catalog?
What does that relationship looklike?

SPEAKER_01 (12:10):
Yeah, it it is a B2B, a private B2B website or uh
for lack of a better term.
And it just starts with avendor, a singular vendor on the
AMP platform, listing your emailaddress as an authorized buyer.
As soon as your email address islisted as an approved buyer,
you'll receive your logincredentials from AMP, and then

(12:32):
you'll be able to browse theother participating vendors for
free and ask for permission tosee those catalogs as well.
So we we don't uh AMP's notinterested in charging buyers to
participate.
You just need to be uh an emaillisted on someone's customer
list.

SPEAKER_00 (12:48):
We're gonna do that, Anthony.
We're gonna put you on AMP andsee if uh we put you against
some other producers and see ifthey like you the most.
You better smile if we put youon there.
Hey, I'm confident.
There we go, here we go.
So AMP Avenue supports bothretail and RTO pricing models.
How does an RTO dealer benefitfrom being with everybody else
in these situations, like retailand RTO?

(13:10):
Now, RTO in those situations,and you know, we're just being
honest with the RTO brands, weare not retail driven, right?
We have cash prices because youcan go in and do that, but we're
not also gonna beat the Walmartsand the Targets and you know,
the CVS is on the corner.
They have pricing because theirmodel is to retail as fast as
they possibly can.
Their margins are way lowerbecause they're going by volume.

(13:32):
Where an RTO dealer is gonna beabsolutely opposite.
If you're talking about a retailtransaction, yes, I could
probably sell it to you.
And there might be times that Ican actually get you a good
deal, but the truth is that'snot our model.
Our model is free delivery, nocredit checks.
You know, we can service it.
And that's why the pricing is alittle bit different.
Because if I'm gonna adddelivery, I've got labor, time,
truck, I've got to bring it in,set it up, put it on the floor.

(13:53):
Those are costs that they're notdoing.
They're taking it in thepackage, throwing it on a shelf,
and then if you want it, youhave to pick it up and take it
to a kiosk where nobody'ssaying, How are you doing today?
Right.
So, what's the advantage ofhaving an you know an RTO dealer
and a retail dealer is all inthat same idea?
And and you know, again, you'reeducating me, but I'm just
looking at it from the RTOstandpoint, going, Where is the
plus side of that and how doesit work out for Amtop and the

(14:15):
RTO dealers?
Sure.

SPEAKER_01 (14:16):
Yeah, there's there's certainly a nuance
between the two using oursoftware.
I'd say for RTO, um, we actuallyuh designed a lot of the kiosk
alongside Countryside.
Countryside was our first uhbeta partner with the kiosk, and
they gave a lot of great uhinsight.
They used it more um internallyto they actually integrated

(14:38):
their their POS system with thethe kiosk so that they could
check the inventory levelsacross their stores.
So they used it uh for employeesto see, okay, yes, we have
inventory we can move around.
I need this over at my location.
And then oh, I can also see thevendor inventory.
So if we're out of stock acrossthe board, I can now uh turn
around and place a specialorder.

SPEAKER_00 (14:59):
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(15:21):
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(15:43):
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SPEAKER_01 (16:01):
Uh directly with the vendor.
So it was more of a for theirparticular use case, just for
the store managers.
Um, but they could flip thescreen around and show just the
product information.
Here's what the the this specialorder, here's all the photos for
that product, uh dimensions andall the information you need to
know.
If they want to apply a markup,you know, here's our our our

(16:23):
weekly rates, they could do thatas well.
Um and and any other informationthey could append to that
product data.

SPEAKER_00 (16:31):
So just so that I'm clear, when you say countryside,
we're talking about countrysiderentals that's doing business as
rent-to-own in the Ohio area,Mike Tissett's group.
Yes.
Yeah.
Okay.
Because they're they're great.
I mean, they're they're prettysuccessful.
They know how to do rent-to-ownpretty darn well.
So it's nice to see that they'redoing that right.
Mike, I'm looking at you.
I know you're doing a great job.
But um, you know, I it it is adifferent way to use it.

(16:54):
I never really thought about itlike that.
And I think that's why they'rethey're pretty cutting edge
because they have the ability tokind of think forward like that.
So I like that idea.
Um okay, I like I like that.
Now, let's talk uh RTOspecifically.
How did how did Rent2Own getAmtab?
How did Amtab find Rent2Own?
I mean, you're talking about 15years ago, there was a whole we

(17:14):
were different back then, and Iknow that we don't have the uh
the digital footprint weprobably want yet, but we're
definitely going in thatdirection.
You know, when you say thosemany years ago, we really
weren't online like we shouldhave been.
How did Amtab either change thator see that as a we could help
you, this is how we're gonna doit?

SPEAKER_01 (17:32):
Yeah, again, I wasn't there, but from uh, you
know, attending those tradeshows, the story I hear, uh,
Mark Williams was like the pointman, to be honest.
Okay.
Him and Patrick paired up.
Mark expressed his hisfrustration with all those
logins we talked about.
I was like, hey, I I I'm havinguh I I'm not getting any sleep

(17:52):
trying to navigate how to how tobuying anxiety.

SPEAKER_00 (17:56):
I just want to get it bought and done.
You know what I mean?
Like I don't want I don't wantto log into Amazon three times,
okay?
I just want to get it done.
I could I totally understandthat.
I really do.

SPEAKER_01 (18:04):
Yeah, so so Patrick simply pitched to Mark, hey, if
we work together, get all thevendors you care to source from
onto one site.
Is that interesting for you?
And he said, yeah.
And they uh rent one was youknow monumental in in getting
the the name of AMP out there.
Um we could probably thank a lotof the networking to those early

(18:25):
days with Rent One andCountryside.
Um and two very big dealers.

SPEAKER_00 (18:30):
I I agree.
Like two very big dealers inyour RTO space, you probably
pick two of the two some of thebest to get that done.

SPEAKER_01 (18:35):
Yeah, and uh you know when I I uh came on board,
it was I had kind of mixedfeelings about it.
I went to my first RTO uh tradeshow, and as a new employee, my
task was, and I know you've beento these shows quite a quite a
bit, um, was to go and slapthese amp stickers on every
vendor uh that was on ourplatform.

(18:56):
And I stopped and looked aroundand it was like the entire floor
is green.
It's like I felt like I missedthe boat.
It's like, oh, we've alreadywe've already done it.
I wasn't part of that initial uhnetworking.
Um so I think Patrick and Jessedid great on the amp side.
Um, but really a lot of creditgoes towards Rent One and
Countryside, getting excitementfrom the vendors uh to get

(19:19):
everybody on board for theplatform.

SPEAKER_00 (19:20):
So talking about, you know, talking about coming
up through the through the ranksand through the things, you've
seen it you know change fromthen to now through either
stories or when you did come onto now.
Ampedad came on, and what wewould use it for is to kind of
look up, we would go to youknow, either O'Rourke, we would
go to Ashley, whatever the caseis, we would whenever they were
on, whoever's on at that time,we take a look, we get it
ordered.

(19:41):
What's different between the AMPtab that when I started you know
looking at it 10, 12, whateveryears ago versus the one now?
Why would somebody say, okay,that's still the place to go?
It's still where I want to getthe product in and ordered
through.
Like what changes have havehappened in the last 10 years
where you can say this is this,this, and this is making us the
place to go at the moment?

SPEAKER_01 (20:01):
Yeah.
Uh um the journey, I this I wasthere for this, the evolution.
I know.

SPEAKER_00 (20:08):
I saw this.
I did this.

SPEAKER_01 (20:11):
I I saw uh probably what you saw 12 years ago when I
first started.
I was like, okay, I get it.
Everyone has you know a uniquecatalog to shop from.
Uh as long as you have a buyerlogin, you you can access these
these companies separately.
Um and you know, we we werelike, how do we expand AMP
further into retail?
Um our first thought was thekiosk.

(20:32):
You know, there were there'sanother there was another
company out there, WonderSign, Ithink they're called Wonder now,
doing kiosk.
I was like, that's a great idea.
Does AMP have a version of this?
Um so we just we started todesign the kiosk, and then just
because of how problem solvinggoes, we're like, okay, we have
a kiosk, but now we need to getall the vendors in one place,
right?
Uh we have separate catalogsright now.
How do we get into an individualcatalog?

(20:54):
Um so we designed what we calledan AMP feed, uh, which makes a
universal template for the data,has all the taxonomy lineup.
We we create a garbage mapping.
So if if you call it diningrooms and you and over here you
call it dining sets, we can callit the same thing, the dining
area, right?
Um so getting the the vendors onthe same taxonomy for filtering

(21:16):
was huge.
Uh getting all of the vendors'data to line up in the same uh
square, as it were, for the theproduct uh layout for dimensions
and whatnot into one catalog wasa big evolution.
And then working with uh likeChip Guy was monumental for
order workflow stuff.

(21:37):
So we built this one big catalogthat's got 30,000 SKUs in it
now.
It's that's a differentchallenge on approving orders
and slowing down the stores whogot excited, like, oh, I can I'm
Amazon shopping now, right?
In AMP.
So setting up approval rules, assoon as you place an order, it's
gonna go to your regionalmanager.
As soon as the regional managerapproves it, it's gonna go to

(21:58):
the CSR at the home.
Office to create a PO.
And as soon as it has a PO,it'll go to the head decision
maker.
If they hit the go button, it'llgo to the vendor.
So really locking down the orderapproval process where minimums
are now respected.
We have store budget trackingnow.

(22:18):
So the store can see, oh, I'vespent my allotment for the month
or whatnot.
So just a lot of a lot offeedback, a lot of iterations to
be sure the orders that are sentfrom the store to the home
office and then to the vendorare accurate.
And they can act on them.

SPEAKER_00 (22:37):
We put that in there, Anthony.
We're going to stop you from youcan't buy it anymore.
We need to put that on there.
You were banned from buying.
So here's the deal, man.
You're talking about some namesthat I I've I've worked with.
I love Casper Fop.
He's a great guy.
He was on the show.
I love what he does.
Have you ever thought aboutworking?
And I don't know if this is it,are they like considered
competition?
Is WonderSide consideredcompetition?

(22:58):
Or is it something that, youknow, hey, they already have the
Wonder Science in the store.
Do you mind putting AmpTab onit?
Or is it, no, that's like I'mgoing to go to Apple and say I'm
going to put an Android app onthere.
Like, no, that's not you ain'tdoing that.
That's not going to happen.

SPEAKER_01 (23:12):
Yeah, it's a it's a good question.
It I think we're not directlycompeting just because of how
we've handled our businessmodels.
Um R kiosk is a website you canput on any device.
So you can throw it on yourlaptop, um, you can put it on a
TV.
I believe that, if I'm right, uhWondersign was more interested
in pairing it with the hardwareitself, and there were like
long-term contracts associatedto the actual screen, um, and

(23:35):
then they locked it down in thatregard.
Um we just saw it as anextension of our platform we
already had.
Like, hey, you got a websitewith us, it's free.
Do you want to also have thatsame catalog look like a touch
screen that you can go up andand peruse with your customer?
Um, and then for the RTOspecifically, if you want to you

(23:56):
know have a curated RTOexperience, um, it's just using
our same technology in adifferent way.
So we weren't really, at leastin my mind, we weren't competing
directly with with WonderSign.

SPEAKER_00 (24:07):
Yeah.
Well, you know, it it again,like you said, uh, you know,
mentioning names, uh, I actuallyworked with ChipGuy for a couple
years just very recently.
So it's nice to know that he wasa part of that situation and
helped you out as much as hecould.
But uh I, you know, I'm I'mcurious.
Amtab describes itself as likethis omni-channel platform from
an R2 dealer who's you knowbasically, let's say running uh

(24:29):
one store out of a spreadsheet,you know, what does getting
started with Amtab actually looklike?
And and what is a learningcurve, right?
I I started this up, I've beendoing Renton my whole life, but
I've got one store.
I'm literally having to go frommanagement to learning how to do
the back end, which is not aneasy feat, right?
So now somebody says, you know,and I'm I'm just throwing a name
out there, but Mike calls me up,says, I'm from Amtab, and you

(24:51):
should be on there because Ihave one login instead of 30.
And somebody goes, that's agreat idea.
What is what does it take to getto be on Amtab?
And then what kind of learningcurve is from that moment?

SPEAKER_01 (25:01):
The learning curve is different depending on who
you are, as far as retail or thevendor or RTO.
Um, our general onboardings areabout two weeks to six weeks,
and that's just how fancy do youwant to be?
Uh, do you want to set upintegrations with your ERP
system?
Then that may extend thattimeline.
Um for a vendor, it it can be assimple as taking a spreadsheet

(25:22):
in Excel and hitting upload, andyou've got your products listed
on the website.
For a retailer, um we don't wantyou to do any work if we can
help it.
We want you to tell us therules, like here's our markup,
here's uh my filtering, I don'twant to see any products above a
thousand dollars, I don't wantto see lamps from this
particular company, or thisvendor can should only be shown

(25:45):
to stores in Texas.
Like we can build formulas foryou so that all you have to do
is log in and see the productsyou care to see.
Um now it doesn't mean you can'tgo into the data and play
around.
Uh all the names I've mentionedand more, they like to do that.
They like to hand pick productsthey want to promote.

SPEAKER_00 (26:02):
Oh, I guarantee it.
I guarantee it for sure.

SPEAKER_01 (26:06):
Um But it we it I I believe I built a culture here
at AMP that we lead first withcustomer support.
So if we're not uh giving youquick solutions, workarounds, or
training on the spot, then we'rekind of failing at our job.
Um we don't want you to feellike, okay, you bought the
product, good luck.
That that's that doesn't existhere at AMP.

SPEAKER_00 (26:27):
So somebody comes in, they get it, you you you
tell them we're gonna walk youthrough the process, gonna make
it a little bit easier.
Once we get all dialed in, it'sgonna be easier ordering.
What does it take to get AmpTab?
Is it a one-time I bought in andI get to use this for the year,
10 years, I got a monthlysubscription?
Like, how does it work to staydialed in and and have somebody
come to you and say, hey, I'mgonna sit with you for a couple

(26:48):
weeks?
You know, is it is it a downpayment up front to cover those
costs and then a lowersubscription monthly or
something like that?
How does that work?

SPEAKER_01 (26:55):
Um, we we we have a couple different approaches
depending on your goal.
Um, we don't do any contractsand we do have a setup fee, but
that's related to how complex doyou need this to be.
Um and and I'm talking talkingsp more specifically towards our
vendors.
You know, we want exclusiveproducts per customer, you know,

(27:16):
per price, um, which we support,but that takes coding to do.
So you're employing an engineerto to do that during onboarding,
essentially.
Um for the retailer, it's prettylow.
It's it's about a hundred bucksa month per store.
Um and you can start and stopanytime.
You could pay up front for aslight discount if you want to
pay for the year, great.
Um, but if you just want to gomonth to month, that's fine with

(27:38):
us too.

SPEAKER_00 (27:38):
Okay.
I mean, that you know, it's it'sit's just a question I have
because I know that some dealershave by the time they finally
get to own their store, they'vebeen in the big they've been in
the game for a while.
And listen, I have some peoplethat I know that can go to Chat
GPT on their phone and getthings done within 20 seconds,
and I know guys who are stilllooking for the yellow pages
when they dial somebody on theirrotary phone.
It's not the same, they're justnot built the same, as I'm

(28:00):
telling you, man.
It's not the same.
So um, so I I was looking at it,and I said something about like
this this dial-in ability.
There is, you know, on onescrew, there's skew, there's
almost 55 million possiblecombinations to make that,
right?
So, how does it actually fit anRTO dealer uh on the floor with

(28:22):
a customer in front of them?
How does that not getoverwhelming, right?
So you you know, you want tohave the right things for the
right people, but when you havesomebody that can change the
fabric and the height and youknow, maybe a couple of options,
now I'm trying to show them onmy tablet and we are getting
paralysis by analysis, and all Iwant them to do is is order the
product.
You know, how do you fight thatwhen you have somebody coming in

(28:44):
and wanting something now, butyou have you can literally
tailor this 55 million ways?
How does that work?

SPEAKER_01 (28:51):
Yeah, that uh I believe uh what you're touching
on are uh kind of a subset ofour vendors that do made to
order.
Uh and that 55 million example,that's one of our higher end,
uh, I believe that comes fromMoss Studio, where they're very
like nice pillows, like$500pillows is is the the the kind
of Anthony.

SPEAKER_00 (29:11):
It's a pillow for $500.
I just want you to know thatyou're not getting the whole
sofa.
You're getting the best pillowever, man.
That's a super agronomic pillow.
I'd I could tell you right now.
I want to see it.
I don't want to look at it toolong because it might charge me.
I just want to see it one goodtime.
Flashed a picture one time.
If it just sounds expensive.
Okay, so then really thoseoptions are for people who are

(29:32):
really dialed in at a reallyhigh level.
So somebody in RTO level is notreally gonna see that much.
So we're we're not gonna havethat much interaction as far as
through AMP tab with somebodythat's coming in, and we lose
them to going, I don't knowwhich one I want because he has
75 options, and I think I'm justgonna go home and think about
it.

SPEAKER_01 (29:47):
Yeah, and to be honest, I I've I've worked with
all of our RTO dealers in AMP asas far as the chains are
concerned, and their catalogsare very curated.
The vendor sets the specialskews to the side, um, so you
wouldn't see anything as complexas uh the Moss Studio Pillow.

(30:08):
Um it just it doesn't make sensefor that that's not right,
right?
Um and and more so, I I'velearned in the RTO space, it's
more common to have set SKUswhere like a buy all button,
hey, this is the best packagedesigned for a store like yours.
Um so trying to remove thatparalysis of I don't know, does

(30:32):
this thing go with this thing?
Uh part of the same collection,I guess it does.
Yep, you hit this button, it'llinclude the table and the four
chairs, you're good to go.

SPEAKER_00 (30:39):
Nice.
You know, a question that Ihave, because you know, again,
we're we're gonna go back tothis, but um, you know, AMP
integrates with quite a fewprograms, right?
I I've seen QuickBooks, I'veseen NetSuite, I've seen
Freedom, and you know, probablya dozen other ones.
My concern is for some of theRTO guys, and we talked about it
just now uh a couple minutesago.
Some of them are are a littlebit dated in what they have.

(31:00):
They're okay.
It it I'm not gonna fix itbecause it's not broken.
Um, and some of the RTO dealersthat are running out there, they
have a little bit of oldersoftware, some back office
software that's not up to date.
How does AMP plug into what theyalready have?

SPEAKER_01 (31:14):
Yeah, we're we're pretty uh simplistic, to be
honest, uh, in that regard.
Uh we only have a coupleoptions, and it gives you the
the most simple version of it,which is if you hit this special
link, it'll download an Excelfile.
So if your program can import anExcel file on your end, and vice
versa, then you're good to go.
Um, some folks that want to havea more sophisticated connection,

(31:37):
they can do that.
Uh, but it all happens outsideof AMP.
So it really we we offer freeconsultation.
We have a on-staff integrationengineer, Stanley, that we pair
you up with him.
Um he's worked with uh all ofour clients that are interested
in integration for the lastseven years.
So he's he he's been around theblock as far as that that
connection is concerned.

SPEAKER_00 (31:58):
Um Stanley, we called you out.
We're gonna give you a call now.
Just want you to know by the endof the show, we're gonna put
your number out on the thing andwe're gonna get we're gonna get
calls directly to you.

SPEAKER_01 (32:06):
We're not paying overtime, Stanley.
Sorry.

SPEAKER_00 (32:09):
Turn your phone off, turn your phone off.
But you know, so but more thanlikely, uh as so then basically
it's something that's configuredoutside of the computer software
that they're in, and then asthey pull it in, it's already
there.
It's not something that has tobuild inside their, you know,
their back uh I want to say, youknow, a program in the back
door, you just kind of sittingback there at often side, and

(32:32):
you got one program here, andthat one's just eating up your
RAM and your memory in the back,and it's like, oh my god, this
is killing me.
This is something that when youget into it, it's already
configured, ready to go, and thedealer doesn't have to kind of
worry about whether it's newsoftware, I'm still running
Windows 7, it w it should stillcome up.

SPEAKER_01 (32:47):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
And the most common way I'veI've heard it introduced to
folks is uh can your currentprogram generate a report?
Um, and can your current port uhERP system import uh an Excel
file?
So if you can do those twothings, uh we offer the if you
can think of like an emailinbox, we offer the inbox for

(33:10):
you to email.
Um, and we can send you back anemail on your end.
So hopefully uh it it uh workswith their system, but again,
we're we always have that freeconsultation.

SPEAKER_00 (33:22):
Simplistic terms.
I I like that.
Uh you know, talking aboutsimplistic is we're gonna go,
we're gonna the pendulum hasswung.
We're going from people who haveWindows 7 when we're talking
about AI is on the scene.
It is everywhere.
It's literally on my phone.
If it ever took over, Skynetwould kill me first.
But you know, now that it's onthe scene, is AMP doing anything
with AY AI?

(33:43):
Is it is it integrating?
Is it part of the system?
Or is that uh is there a plan tointroduce that to AMP tab and
all of the you know programsthat you offer?

SPEAKER_01 (33:51):
There's nothing officially in our pipeline
today.
Um, it is something I know ourengineers have been playing with
as an aid uh in in theirday-to-day work.
Um and it it is something we'vewe've kind of whiteboarded or
playing with, you know, uhenhancing product romance and
searches using AI.

(34:11):
Like if we have an AI that canread all of your data locally uh
in your catalog, hey, I'mlooking for a red chair that
looks like it belongs in acottage, right?
It can help narrow down yourdata using those uh more
descriptive searches.
Um and other use cases likethat.
I don't think we're gonna uhenter a space where AI takes

(34:34):
over the program.
Uh it'll be more of a aid to theuser for things that could be
typing and and manually lookingfor.

SPEAKER_00 (34:43):
So a powered search, basically.

SPEAKER_01 (34:45):
Yeah.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (34:46):
That's it.
Now I'm gonna go on Amtab andit's gonna do like like the
Gemini does.
It pops up and tries to squeezeinto my answers.
Like, dude, I didn't ask that.
So uh, you know, technologyadoption in the RTO industry has
traditionally been a little bitslower than it should be.
I'm not gonna lie, I definitelyfeel that in a lot of regards.
Um, you know, slower thanmainstream retail, anyways, from

(35:07):
where you sit, you know, workingwith dealers every day, is that
changing?
Are you seeing that change now?
Like, hey, we have come so faroff the beaten path that we
actually have to upgrade, wehave to get better at what we
do, or you come across Windows7s every day.

SPEAKER_01 (35:20):
It's it's funny.
I I kind of always saw the RTOspace as more aggressive
compared to our wholesale sideof the business, where they're
they're looking for, you know,where can I get my advantage
today?
And and maybe that's justapproach or or that's you know,
negotiating differently.
Um and as as far as all of ourclients, the a theme I've seen

(35:43):
is more comfort around that APIintegration we were just uh
discussing, where they want toconnect.
They want their ERP system,their QuickBooks connected to
AMP so that uh the moment theyupdate a price in QuickBooks, it
updates in AMP.
And the moment somebody placesan order in AMP, it arrives in
QuickBooks.
Um because you know, along withthis surge in AAI is this surge

(36:05):
for uh real-time updates, um,which is only as real time as
the update is, right?
Um as opposed to waiting forsomebody to go into a
spreadsheet or manually type intheir updates, they just want
all their systems talking sothat when the buyer hits that
place order button, it's againstan inventory quantity that
exists this second as opposed tolast week, right?

(36:28):
And when I started with AMP,nobody was talking about
integration.
Nobody.
You might have your yourhigh-end brand like Coaster of
America, um, is like, yeah, wehave eight warehouses to manage,
we have to be integrated.
But beyond that, it was it wastoo much of a scary word.
It meant we're gonna hire somespecialist for$30,000 to design

(36:50):
this integration.
Um, that's just not neededanymore.
And more uh the trend is headedtowards real-time data, and
that's only possible with thatconnection.

SPEAKER_00 (36:59):
Yeah.
I mean, uh, you know, some ofthese guys into their to their
effort is like, hey, I've gotthis program.
It doesn't need to do any more.
It does exactly what I need itto do.
It gives me the reports that Ineed.
I can take care of payroll andeverything.
I can order what I need to.
What's the point in gettingsomething new and shiny if this
has been doing me so good for solong?
And I can literally, I knowevery aspect of this program
from beginning to end, right?

(37:20):
So, you know, I don't know ifit's if that's the reason why
sometimes the adoption takes alittle bit longer, or it's like
there's there's no there's noreason, right?
My truck's got 150,000 miles,it's gonna go for another 150.
Ain't no reason to buy anythingelse.
So, you know, I I definitelyunderstand it from both sides
of, you know, both sides of theball game.
Um, you know, I I read, and Idon't know, and you tell me, I
read that Amtab actually doesn'thave a huge, you know, there's

(37:42):
not like a hundred thousandpeople sitting around anywhere,
you know, and everybody's gonnaget laid off in the next couple
days.
Like it's a small crew.
You guys are tight-knit, youkeep everything kind of
everybody's working full-time,100%, but it's not like there's
a a thousand people working foryou.
There's there's actually arelatively small number.
Um, yeah, how does how does thatnumber factor into the fact that
if you're growing or if thingsare happening, that how do you

(38:04):
scale that if you have a verytight crew?

SPEAKER_01 (38:08):
Yeah, it's a great question.
Uh we are a tight crew.
Uh we we we fluctuate around 15people, which surprises most.
And it's it's just the nature ofsoftware.
You know, we don't have to worryabout warehouses, we don't have
to worry about uh physicalproducts.
We just have to be able tohandle the inbound, right?
Um and at this point, we're allexperts in our field.

(38:32):
Our tight knit crew has beenaround six plus years, uh if not
longer, right?
So it's um we we will grow whenuh we reach a certain uh
breaking point, as it were, withyou know, oh, we've got too many
clients with too many questionsthat we need to we need to do.

SPEAKER_00 (38:50):
That's a good problem, Anthony.
I got I got too many peoplehere, and I need more.
I need more.
Totally understand that.
I I totally understand that.
Um, you know, the RTO industryright now is dealing with uh
with some scrutiny in somedifferent areas, some different
states, like you know, New Yorkand stuff like that.
Um also the buy now pay latermarket is kind of dealing with
some stuff and some least to ownoptions.

(39:12):
Uh it does that affect AMP tabin any way?
Is there is is does that, youknow, are you in those markets
and does it affect it uh asyou're in them and what's going
on?

SPEAKER_01 (39:22):
It doesn't affect us directly.
Um, but you know, anydisturbance in the force uh
trickles its way over to AMP, uhwhether it's it's tariff talks
or uh backed up containers uhacross the sea there.
Um you know, as our if ourclients are having trouble doing
business, you know, softwarenotoriously is the easiest thing

(39:43):
to cut back on, right?
It's like, oh it's it's asubscription, we can hit pause
on it, or we'll come back later,or we'll start doing things on
paper again, right?
Um so we we are very sensitiveto any uh negative changes in in
our clients' industries.
Um we were we we built uh prettygoodwill during the COVID years

(40:05):
where we we muted people'sbillings for a couple couple
months.
We're like we understand thingsare hard.
Um we can stomach no revenuecoming in uh for a stretch just
so that you guys can uh getorganized uh during during
uncertain times.
And and that's something uh Iknow there's there's uh a ton of
people out there know that theycan reach out to me directly to

(40:27):
my cell phone and be like, hey,is there something we can work
out during this time period?
And more often than not, it'sit's yes, we will work with you.

SPEAKER_00 (40:35):
Well, I definitely have a love-hate relationship
with my Netflix bill.
Uh we have separated a couple oftimes, but we seem to manage to
get back together all the time.
So I definitely understand.
It's actually nice to hear thatyou were able to do that for
some people because I can tellyou right now, we went through
it during those COVID years.
There was a lot going on, youknow.
Um, we came out of it really,really well, and then we're
paying, I think everybody'spaying the price for everything,

(40:56):
you know.
It's more money flow, and thenall of a sudden everything just
starts changing.
And I don't even want to talkabout gas prices.
Um my goodness, you know it.
Um, are there any productcategories and vendor
relationships that you'reworking to bring to the platform
that RTO dealers specificallyhave been asking for that don't
aren't currently on there now?

SPEAKER_01 (41:15):
Not that I'm aware of.
Do you have any secrets?

SPEAKER_00 (41:18):
Well, the reason I'm asking you is because I'm trying
to find the next big thing rightnow that I feel like it's we've
we've taken a slowdown, right?
So going into it, it it used tobe every year you would have a
shiny new Elmo, or there wassomething that was going on.
And you know, in the past fewyears, it would, you know, it
became it was laptops, then itwas game systems, then it was
uh, you know, the the the PS5sand the PS5s, and but there is

(41:41):
no new PS5 that's gonna be in ain a decent realm, right?
They're talking about the newPS5s hitting four figures,
they're talking about the newXboxes hitting four figures, you
know, even the the Nintendo camewith a price increase, whether
it was from tariffs or they wantto make the new chips, they want
to make it, you know, anagradable, whatever the case is.
You know, stream is is gettingthere, but it's it's you know
not as prevalent as we wouldlike to.

(42:03):
So Steambox and all those.
Um, you know, we had a time whenthe bicycles came in, you know,
the e-bikes and and thescooters, that was a thing.
These past two years, I haven'tseen the new shiny toy.
You know, even the new, youknow, even the new gaming rigs
that came in, you know, andthey're they're coming in with
bigger screens and they'recoming with more memory, and the
video card is absolutelyamazing, and you know, it's got

(42:26):
uh SSD and uh, you know, andthen it goes into the NVMe.
I haven't seen anything, right?
It it's it's either you havesomething that just has a little
bit more tweaking on the specs,or you got what you got.
Now, listen, I would love to saythat all those were in in the
furniture-related business, butI mean, nowadays there's a
tablet on your refrigerator andyou can Bluetooth to your washer
and dryer.

(42:47):
That's probably the extent ofwhat I've seen that it's really
changing.
I mean, I think the only biggreat thing I've seen is that
some people can do their washingand their drying in the same
appliance.
It's a great space saver, but Ihaven't I haven't exactly had to
hold my doors back from that.
And I'm wondering, you know,with all these innovations that
have come up in these last 12months, I haven't seen anything
that's coming down a pipe whereI'm going, that's what we need

(43:09):
to have.
And I'm curious, is thereanything that dealers are
saying, hey, you know, thislooks like it's coming down the
pipe.
Are you guys gonna get this?
Is this something that's gonnabe integrated into my my
purchasing uh portal so that Ican buy this?
Or are you just looking at itlike we are going, I I don't
know what it is.

SPEAKER_01 (43:25):
Yeah, I I I share the same perspective.
I I feel like everyone's beenholding their breath for the
last two years, making safepurchases.
Uh vendors are producing a lotof very uh typical type of SKUs,
like the safe, the safe sofa.

SPEAKER_00 (43:41):
Um, I think that's what he's saying, Anthony.
They're going with the safe betright now.

SPEAKER_01 (43:45):
Yeah, people uh will order a hundred of these.
You know, it's not toooutrageous, so we'll we'll lean
into that production.
Um, there was a diff definitelyuh a shift on the buying side of
I'm not looking for anything uhunique or out.
I just need what's in stock.
So there's a huge shift intowhat is the inventory levels.
What can I get in my stores inthe next week or two rather than

(44:09):
what's what's going to be theexciting product that may drive
new business, right?
And you know, as far astechnology, there's this whole
everything's getting AI in thename of it, right?
This is now headphones with AI.
Don't really explain what the AIdoes, but it's got an AI chip in
it.
And we can raise it.

SPEAKER_00 (44:30):
You know, I because I I think what I've seen is
truly the next new shiny toy issomething that's cheaper than it
was.
You know, it's going back for afew years and dialing back the
price a little bit.
That's what I've seen it to be.
Like, you know, everything hasgone up.
And whether it's, you know, gasthat makes the delivery charges
a little bit more, whether it'scoming across the water, you
know, the prices on that arejust getting a little bit

(44:50):
higher, whether it's a tariffhere or a tariff there, or if
you know, it can't make itthrough this area because of
whatever's going on.
You know, as you look at it, youknow, my idea is what I've seen
is I just think everybody'slooking for a break.
Not necessarily a new toy, butlisten, if I can get you that
product for a couple dollarscheaper because we were able to
make that happen, it gets alittle easier.

(45:12):
I think the problem is I don'tthink anybody has that silver
bullet in their gun just yet.
Um, and I don't know if, youknow, if we're gonna bring
manufacturing back in into theStates, I don't know if that's
ever gonna change the price.
It might change theavailability, but I mean we
build it probably more expensivethan anybody else.
So hopefully it lasts, but Idon't think that's gonna solve
the problem of the dollar bill.
And so, you know, I think that'sthat's something that a lot of

(45:33):
dealers are looking for.
It's like, hey, you know, if itis gonna be something that you
have on your on your lineup,what's the best deal?
Now I don't know if you can goin there and say, hey, find me
the cheapest washer and dryer orthe most economical set that
makes sense as a group, but youknow, that's what I'm thinking.
Hey everyone, it's Pete Chowhere from the R2 Show podcast,
and I want to tell you about acompany that's making a real

(45:55):
difference in the rent-to-ownedspace, WoW brands.
I've seen firsthand how theyapproach marketing.
Let me tell you, it's not justabout ads.
WoW brands build completedigital ecosystems designed
specifically for therent-to-owned industry.
Their e-commerce and leadgeneration strategies are built
to bring in qualified leads.
And did I mention that they areactively working with the
rent-town industry while alsobeing members of April and Trib?

(46:19):
Listen, these folks arepassionate problem solvers.
They don't just slap somethingtogether, they design, build,
and scale the kind of digitalretail tools your business needs
and your customers actuallywant.
So if you're serious aboutgrowing, reach out to WildBrands
at WoWBrands.com.
I trust them, and I think youwill too.
I mean, in in your opinion, fiveyears from now, what does the

(46:43):
ideal RTO store look likethrough the lens of AMPAB?
What where do you guysintegrate?
Where are you guys going to beon a store level in five years?

SPEAKER_01 (46:51):
Um Well, uh, I know what we are aiming to do.
So the big dream of AMP is to bevertically integrated from top
to bottom.
And you know, going onedirection, that means we're
connected not only to themanufacturer, but also the
factory.
So they they're keeping track oftheir parts, and as soon as
orders come through, it'ssending notification to the

(47:11):
factory.
On the opposite end of thatspectrum is we're connected to
the consumer side.
So if they bring in a product totheir home, how do we connect to
you for support from that storeif you're doing some kind of
return or refund or evenrecycling, helping manage that
information?
Um and a lot of that starts withuh our our next big project,

(47:33):
which is designing redesigningour web tools.
So a new website designedspecifically for the buyer with
new technology that's uh gearedtowards promotion for marketing,
um, highlighting anything likediscount codes to entice
shopping and drive uh thatinteraction further.

(47:55):
Um and we're lucky enough thatwe're already on mobile devices
thanks to our iPad app, butextending that to your your
phone as well.
So taking that new website,making it mobile friendly, and
having that information on thego in your pocket.
Um so once we do that in theretail store, you could have uh
retail associates walkingaround, whether that's on their

(48:18):
phone or on an iPad, uh havingall those same powerful tools at
their fingertips.

SPEAKER_00 (48:24):
So there's something that I want to know.
Okay, this this relates to youdirectly.
If you had a magic wand and youcan say, This is what I would
like to see either from the RTOside or for the AMP side.
So, you like you know, let'ssay, I mean, I would love to be,
you know, Joe Rogan right now,and if I can make that magic
wand, make that happen, right?
As you, as my costa, if you hadthis ability, you had one way

(48:47):
with this magical pen, uh, andyou could do either something in
the RTO side that would thatwould help benefit either you or
them or both, or amp tab side.
You say, you know what, I just Ihave this idea the guys won't be
like, they ain't listening tome.
But no, I'm I'm just I'm beingfacetious.
But you know, is there it whatwould that be?
Do you have an like is theresomething that goes across your
mind and say, you know what,this this is something I would

(49:08):
love to see come into what we dowithin the next two, three, four
years?

SPEAKER_01 (49:13):
Um it it would circle around data.
And maybe that's the the nerdyside of me, but our program is
only as good as the data you putinto it.
It it's an empty canvas, youknow, it's just a bunch of empty
boxes until a vendor uploadsthat spreadsheet.
Um and the quality of that datais so massively important for

(49:34):
the buyer, right?
If you're not standing next tothem, then they have to educate
themselves on that buyingdecision with what's in front of
them on the screen.
And when you get into a a spacewhere you're shopping from a
mixed catalog, like on Amazon,um, and you were to search for,
you know, um my little ponylunch boxes, and then a bunch of

(49:56):
these other items show up thatare unrelated uh to your search,
that's a problem.
And that's a problem that existsfor Amazon today.
So if I could wave a magic wandand and make something better,
it's to create a AMP taxonomythat is enforced across the
board across all our vendors sothat it doesn't matter who
you're shopping with, you'regonna get the right results when

(50:17):
you search and filter.
Um and and just product romanceand descriptions and volumes and
everything you need uh acrossthe board.

SPEAKER_00 (50:27):
You know, you know you talk about Amazon a lot.
I got a suggestion.
You know my suggestion would betake it or leave it, but if you
do it, you have to somehow puton like the RTO show suggestion
box here.
They they're the ones thatcreated this.
You know what I think would begreat on Amtab is you know, if
every time I go into an Amazonbox, and I and this could be

(50:51):
good or bad, I don't even knowif this is good or bad.
Every time that I go intoAmazon, what's the first thing I
look at?
I search for a name and then Ilook for the likes.
Who likes it?
How many stars did they get?
Give me a rundown of why youlike it or why you don't like
it.
And sometimes, you know, I get aproduct that you know it only
has like three and a half starsbecause I'm looking at it and
they're like, oh, I just didn'treally like it.
The color was off.

(51:11):
But, you know, some of them makea difference.
Like, hey, I got this in and itbroke in like three minutes,
literally.
I was opening the box, it shotout, it fell, nobody wants to
give me my money back.
I can't, you know, I can't get ahold of anybody.
I'm emailing them 10 times aday, nobody answers.
You know, the thought of beingable to say, hey, this product
or this, and not necessarily onthe on the end of AmpTab because
you're not selling your ownproduct, but you know, let's

(51:32):
say, again, uh Whirlpool, uh,you know, Climatic, whatever,
you know, they they're doingtheir own thing, GE, and have
something that says, hey, youknow what, I've got some great
service, it was amazing.
I ordered this, it was right,and it came in exactly the way I
ordered it.
Or, you know, I'm gonna givethem three stars.
It was here on time, but theproduct's not looking that good,
came in with a scratch.
You know, I have three itemsthat out of 20 that came in with

(51:54):
a dent, you know, it it theythey said it was this and the
picture looked great, you know,but they have the filters on.
Get get it in the same, oh god,that's send that one back.
She's I'm not going out withthat one.
So, you know, just saying I froma thought process, if you guys
can do it, I'm just saying ifyou can add some stars on there
or a likes, a thumbs up, youknow, because Netflix doesn't
like anybody saying they don'tlike it, but you know, thumbs

(52:15):
up, thumbs down, and in a littlecomment about what what the
product has.
I don't know, just a thoughtprocess there.
Uh, that one is a free ofcharge.
I just want you to know that Iwould not charge you for that.

SPEAKER_01 (52:25):
We are on our way there.
We do have a filter for moremost purchased already.
Um, so that that's available.
Uh it's it's one of those thingswhere that's an amazing idea.
We would definitely implementit, but it'd probably be a
case-by-case basis on somethinga vendor would have to opt into.
Because I'm sure there's somevendors out there like, I don't

(52:45):
really want to have bad reviewson my products.

SPEAKER_00 (52:48):
Uh no, I 100%.
Yeah, I 100% agree with that.
The only reason I say that isbecause, you know, if you're if
it it in my thought process isif you're bold enough to put
five uh scooters next to it, I'magain, I'm going just
referencing point, and you'regonna be one of the five, you
know that they're gonna look ateverybody's specs, they're gonna
look at how long it lasts,they're gonna look at the
battery life, they're gonna lookat the build, they're gonna look

(53:10):
at the warranty and say, Well,you know what, you're only
offering six months, these guysare offering a year.
How long does it take to get in?
If I order this today and ittakes two weeks, but this guy
might be a little bit more, butI'm getting it tomorrow.
I get that sale because if mycustomer's waiting two months,
two weeks, whatever the case is,they might not be interested
then, right?
You know, I might get that downpayment, they don't come back.
Look, I ain't got it.
It's been a week.
Give me a moment to be back, I'mgonna get it somewhere else.
You know, um, tire life, doesthe do the brakes actually stop

(53:33):
the vehicle, right?
And and so my thought is, youknow, if if you're gonna do
that, um, I would like to seethat up the game, right?
If you have something that'scoming in and it's constantly
getting one and two stars, maybethat means you pull it off the
shelf and make sure you get abetter product out there.
Maybe it's a it's a way to tellother dealers, hey man, this
sells really good, but becareful on the warranty end.
Or it has a great warranty, likeyou know, certain things have

(53:54):
great warranties because theythey have a tendency of falling
apart, right?
So, you know, just a thoughtprocess out there.
Um again, that was my two cents.

SPEAKER_01 (54:02):
But you know, if it works, I'm not I'm not buying
it.
So right.

SPEAKER_00 (54:07):
Yeah, this got one review in 10 years.
I'm not buying that, bro.
Nobody's bought this, I'm notbuying it.
But you know, coming into theend, I mean, you know, I always
want to know how can we get thisright for the RTO dealers?
How do we make this right forthe RTO space?
If an RTO dealer is listeningright now, which they will be,

(54:27):
uh, and they're interestedtaking, you know, what's the
first step?
How do they reach out?
What does getting started looklike with Amtab?

SPEAKER_01 (54:34):
Yeah, it you just gotta shoot us an email.
Uh, you can visit our website,amptab.com, our email and phone
number right there on thescreen, also a contact us
button.
Um that'll go to our our supportdesk where our whole team is
watching, and you get routed tome or one of the other members
of the team, and we jump on aZoom call like this.

(54:55):
Um we never just blanketstatement, here's what it costs
to sign up.
Uh, we want to talk first.
We want to see what's what areyour goals, how do we get there?
What are you working with today?
Um, because a lot of times youdon't need in 95% of our
platform.
You have a singular goal, um,and and that's what we aim for,
and we give you an accuratequote from there.

SPEAKER_00 (55:15):
Got a question because I I actually don't know
this.
Is there a customer-facing partof the program, right?
I know that our dealers will goin and they'll buy and they'll
look at it and say, these arethe lead times, this is how long
it takes to get here, this ishow much it costs.
If I maybe if I bundle ittogether, I get six, I get
whatever the case is.
Is there a customer-facing sideof that where they, you know, we
can uh you know, possibly hit abutton or hit a setting where it

(55:35):
doesn't show our pricing in thesense that, you know, everybody
buys wholesale and sells it forwhatever they they they have to
to make their margins.
But a customer facing say, I canturn that off and I can give it
to my customer, and they canliterally go through the the
whole am tab, I guess whateverthat dealer has allowed to show,
and go, I like this, I likethis, I like this, without
actually placing the order, youknow, maybe they hit something

(55:55):
that goes into a checkout orwhatever the case is, and then
the dealer gets is thatsomething that's available?

SPEAKER_01 (56:00):
Absolutely.
Yeah, there's if you tap on yourcart, there's a no price option.
Um, so you can hide all thepricing information.
Or you could take it a stepfurther and switch it to an MSRP
price or a marked up retailprice if there are numbers you
want to display.
Um, but it's all available toyou right in the program.

SPEAKER_00 (56:18):
I was trying for another idea, but he got me.
No, that's great.
So last question, uh, and I andI wanted just, you know, if an
RTO dealer could only do onething differently after hearing
this conversation, what would itbe?

SPEAKER_01 (56:33):
Well, if you're not doing it already, uh give your
feedback.
Like and I'm being sincere, ourentire platform was built on
client feedback.
Every every box, every widgetyou see on there, it came from
one of our users.
It it really did.
Um and it's it's something thatwe actually spend most of our
time doing, I know at least mytime doing, is we we have many

(56:57):
different user types withdifferent goals.
They sell different kinds ofproducts, and the you know, I'm
a sales rep or an I'm an adminin the office, or I'm running a
retail store using the samewebsite or app.
So all these differentperspectives and goals.
So we have a long list of thingsthat that we want to do and get
to.
Uh, and it's made the platformas great as it is today by just

(57:21):
working through thoseconversations together.
So if if you're ever confused orfrustrated, talk to us.
You know, we we may have 10different ways to solve that
frustration already.
And if it doesn't exist, we'llbuild it for you.

SPEAKER_00 (57:35):
Okay.
So then uh if if that's thecase, how would they get your
feedback?
How do what is there a differentis there like feedback at
amptab.com.
How does it how do they get itto you so that they know they're
getting it to the right peoplethat are going to dial in and
try to take care of it?

SPEAKER_01 (57:47):
Yeah, right on our website, that contact us button,
again, we'll go to our entireteam.
I I know that sounds uh like amarketing thing, but it's true.
We all have uh logins to thesame inbox um through our
support ticketing system.
So if you if you reach out fromour website, uh you'll have
attention of all of us here.
And then we'll respond to youMonday through Friday on the

(58:08):
West Coast time uh with thankyou for your feedback.
We've got it captured for you.
We'll keep you updated as wemake progress.
Or oh, it got greenlit, it'll beready for you in a month.
And uh I like that.

SPEAKER_00 (58:19):
Sounds like you're ready to go.
Well, listen, guys, I would tellyou if you don't have AmTat,
give it a try.
Check it out.
I can't tell you that they'regonna have the stars on there
just yet, but if they do, it wasthis guy right here.
I would tell you guys Iappreciate you stopping in
today.
Make sure that you go to thewebsite again.
It's www.drtoshowpodcast.com,buy some swag, subscribe to the
newsletter.

(58:39):
You're gonna see this everywhereyou want to be on Facebook and
Instagram and LinkedIn, YouTubewhere you're gonna see this, and
I'm gonna tell you guys Iappreciate it.
Mike Costa, I'm glad that youwere here.
I'm glad that you talked to usabout Amtab and told us a lot of
things that I really didn'tknow, kind of get into the
little bit of nitty-gritty.
Thank you so much for being onthe show.
And I'm gonna tell you guys, asalways, get your collections low

(59:00):
to get your sales high.
Have a great one.