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Online Sales Experience by brands. What we feel? Also, some feedback for the Manufacturers..
Car buying in India has always been driven by the ‘Touch & Feel’ model. While the consumers used to ‘research’ online; a lot of activities was still conducted at the showroom for finalizing the purchase. The activities primarily included Display & Demo of the Car, Test Drive, Booking, Finance Options, Exchange and finally delivery of the car. Covid 19 Pandemic has turned the dynamics of car purchase and is going to change the way people shall buy cars (atleast for now). While customers would be wary to physically approach the dealership and take the transaction ahead; majority of the OEMs have jumped to provide the ‘Online’ route to the prospects.
We are still on Websites when customers rarely use them:
We believe the OEMs are still lagging behind in the use of technology. While the world has graduated to the usage of apps; the OEMs have just stepped in to provide options to purchase vehicle online – and that too its not seemless in many cases. These are Covid times and manufacturers just need to be ahead of the curve!
As connected capability grows, automakers are investing significant resources in developing mobile apps for their vehicles. Despite a considerable effort, many apps are falling short of automakers’ hype. In the interconnected world of smartphone apps, the negative consequences of not delivering what’s promised can be profound. Let’s review all the Online Car Selling websites available:
We have attempted to go through all the major Mass, Premium & Luxury brands to understand their Online Sales process. As mentioned before we feel that, all of them are still on websites when the world is on apps. Amazon & Flipkart have spoilt customers of choices. We see brands like Mercedes Benz who are able to display their stocks on the website. This seems to be by far the best brands could reach up to.
While we compare all the Websites; many of them have done a decent job, while some interfaces aren’t friendly at all. We present you the snapshot of our assessment here –
Mahindra, Kia & Nissan outdo the other Mass & Premium Car Manufacturers:
Mahindra: Simple, Detailed & Complete purchase experience. Hence Excellent Rating. Do visit the link mentioned below.
‘Own Online’ option from Mahindra
The entire M&M PV portfolio on offer
Integration with Mahindra First Choice a good option to facilitate exchange
Kia: Premium Experience, Well Guided, Felt special through the experience. Do visit the link mentioned below to know more. Kia had already tasted success during the Seltos Pre-Launch bookings phase. It has received considerable amount of bookings online. It is now attempting to go seemless for the entire purchase experience now.
There is a Virtual Reality Showroom too where you can explore the interiors & exteriors of the models in detail
Nissan: With just 1 Car (Kicks) to sell, amazed to see the detailing into the website. Gives a feel that Nissan is still serious about India.
360 degree view, A feel of a showroom at home, Detailed Explanation of the Car. Pretty Decent Job here!
Entire Showroom Feel right from your mobile device!
Let’s now review Online Buying Options of Luxury Brands:
BMW was the first Luxury brand to come very aggressively with their online experience. I would say it was well presented but it doesn’t win this battle of the Best Online Experience. Lot of work required to make the website feel premium.
Link: https://shop.bmw.in/
Mercedes Benz – Leader in the Luxury Space. Didn’t quite meet the expectation of Luxury on it website. We just missed the sheer opulence while we went through the website. Yes, Mercedes was one of the only brands with Real stocks in place which can be booked but it just didn’t attract us.. “ Mercedes is considered to be the epitome of Luxury in India.” – They need to put more effort on their website_ it isn’t simply rich..
Audi: Steals the show with AR (Augmented Reality). While other options have been kept very simple. Very close to this would be a Mercedes & then a BMW.
Just feel that the Top 5 luxury brands should come together to create an integrated app for the benefit of the customers. All of the brands can be on the Menu and feel some one should take the leadership in getting this done.
We anticipate many more disruptions in the days to come in the ways cars are being bought. Let’s see how things transition in the way ahead.