SAN FRANCISCO -- AutoNation Inc. will spread its AutoNation Express approach to online car purchasing to the rest of Florida in the next three months, CEO Mike Jackson said.

The expansion follows the December launch of AutoNation Express in south Florida. Before that launch, AutoNation changed the name from SmartChoice Express. The approach, which AutoNation describes as its digital storefront, is the culmination of a multiyear project to make buying a car more like purchasing other products online. It converts the company's websites from informational to transactional.

"Automotive customers out there are not as delighted as they should be with the experience they're having in auto retail compared to what they're having in other industries. That's the expectation you have to beat," Jackson said at the Automotive News Retail Forum, a conference covering issues facing dealers that set the stage for the National Automobile Dealers Association convention.

AutoNation intends to introduce the program to all of its markets by year end. It also is adding functionality to the process in steps. Next up is what the company calls "Buy Your Car," Jackson said. Based on consumer-reported information, AutoNation will give customers a price offer on their current vehicle. Further steps include financing, service appointments, electronic paperwork and AutoNation-branded products such as service contracts.

By year end, all of those functions will at least be in market testing, Jackson said. They will be rolled out in all markets by the end of 2016, he said. Commercials trumpeting AutoNation Express began in late January in south Florida.

Jackson wouldn't say how many AutoNation Express transactions the company has completed since the December launch. But he said the volume and customer experiences are meeting expectations. Among the transactions, in-store deliveries have been as fast as 15 minutes, he said.

AutoNation is investing more than $100 million in 2014 and 2015 in its branding and digital storefront efforts.