Local business information platform Yelp plans to acquire auto services platform RepairPal for about $80 million in cash.The acquisition is expected to close by the end of the year, subject to customary closing conditions, Yelp said in a Thursday (Nov. 7) press release.The company announced the planned acquisition in an earnings release that also said that Yelp’s advertising revenues in its Services categories rose 11% year over year to reach a record $228 million in third quarter. This contributed to the company’s net revenue rising 4% to a record $360 million.“As we continue to build on our progress in Home Services, we believe RepairPal will accelerate our broader Services efforts by expanding our offerings in the multi-billion-dollar U.S. auto services advertising vertical,” Yelp Co-founder and CEO Jeremy Stoppelman said in the release.The company said in a Thursday letter to shareholders that the acquisition will add RepairPal’s deep knowledge of auto repairs and pricing and its partner network to Yelp’s large consumer audience and its expertise in search engine optimization, search engine marketing and artificial intelligence.This will bolster Yelp’s efforts in the Services categories, including the auto services advertising vertical from which the company derived $90 million of annualized revenue in the third quarter, according to the letter.The strong performance of Yelp’s Services category came at a time when its Restaurants, Retail and Other categories “faced ongoing headwinds,” Yelp Chief Financial Officer David Schwarzbach said in the Thursday press release.“Our planned acquisition aligns with our capital allocation strategy and demonstrates our ability to deploy balance sheet capital to support our business strategy,” Schwarzbach said.RepairPal’s online platform and mobile app assist drivers in selecting certified auto repair shops and dealerships within their vicinity, PYMNTS reported in February.The platform provides estimates for common repairs tailored to location and vehicle make/model, helping customers to avoid overpriced service costs.IT and digital support infrastructure have been increasing in the auto repair market in North America, which is a market in which over 70% of the businesses are single-owner shops, Jeff Haynie, chief technology officer at auto repair shop management platform Shopmonkey, told PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster in an interview posted in December 2022

ServiceUp added an expedited payment processing feature to its auto repair shop management platform.The new InstaPay feature ensures that auto repair shops receive their money within 48 hours of completing the repairs, the company said in a Wednesday (April 10) press release.InstaPay is available to repair shops that are part of the ServiceUp repair network or collaborate directly with ServiceUp’s fleet and insurance customers, according to the release.“With InstaPay, we aim to streamline the payment process, allowing repair shops to focus on what they do best — providing exceptional repairs to their customers,” ServiceUp Chief Product Officer Kunal Rupani said in the release.The solution is designed to improve repair shops’ efficiency and cash flow by eliminating the need for them to chase down late or missed payments or wait the typical net payment terms of 30 to 60 days to receive payments, according to the release.For ServiceUp’s fleet and insurance customers, InstaPay helps build stronger relationships with repair shops by ensuring timely payments, the release said.“InstaPay is just the beginning of our journey toward revolutionizing the automotive repair industry, and we’re excited to continue pushing boundaries and driving positive change,” Rupani said in the release.ServiceUp was founded in 2021 to connect customers to advocates who manage the entire auto repair process.“By creating an end-to-end, fully automated experience, ServiceUp has taken away the headache of car repair for thousands of customers,” Brett Carlson, co-founder and CEO of ServiceUp, said in September 2022 when announcing that the company secured $14.5 million in Series A funding.Customer experience is now shaped by smartphone expectations, so it’s mission critical for auto repair shops to have a unified platform that handles everything from scheduling to payments, Jeff Haynie, chief technology officer at auto repair shop management platform Shopmonkey, told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster in an interview posted in December 2022.“At the end of the day, a shop is really about hours and productivity around how they get customers in and out,” Haynie said. “It’s an operationally efficient business.”