Cars, especially the ones slotted in the high-priced luxury segment, are not typical 'products' that you would associate with online sales.
But these pandemic times are tough, and difficult periods call for some out-of-the-box thinking.
And that is what car majors Mercedes-Benz India and BMW are attempting now.
Benz has launched a #MercFrom Home while BMW India has unveiled "BMW Contactless Experience", both as the names suggest are online sales plans.
According to Benz's website, "#MercFromHome is a hassle-free, digital car buying experience," while BMW says that its campaign is "a digital-first experience that gives you all the benefits of a brick and mortar dealership, and more with a click of a button."
Santosh Iyer, VP sales and marketing, Mercedes-Benz India, has said the service wasn‘t the result of the lockdown, because the brand already had a used car portal running in February 2020, and a digital service drive running since 2016. "We saw a huge response when we launched our digital service drive in 2016, where we shifted our entire customer service, appointment booking, along with estimates, online. Nothing to do with young or old here, it's all about convenience, which everyone wants."
Digital strategy is here to stay
As per the company, the customer can see on-road pricing and offers, and still check with the dealer. If the Mercedes-Benz sales consultant gives a special offer, the customer is sent a customised booking link.
And keeping up with the health-first situation, cars for test drive are completely sanitised, and the sales consultant sits diagonal to the customer. There‘s a PPE kit for both of them, along with the Aarogya Setu app, ensuring both are safe.
The company has been emboldened by the response to the Roadster platform, an e-commerce marketplace for used cars. Benz claims that it sold 150 used cars online from February 1 to March 15, constituting around 30 percent of its normal used car sales.
BMW feels that regular and online sales can co-exist and complement each other. "The idea is to not be tied to one plan – online, offline or hybrid - these should simply be deployed based on the customer and developing trends. Digital technologies are here to stay and evolve, even after COVID-19," a company spokesperson has been quoted as saying.
Other brands also do not seem to be far behind in this strategy. Honda has kicked off 'Honda From Home', and Volkswagen too now offers you to buy and/or book a service from its India website.
Cars, the symbol of mobility, being sold online, the sign of staying put in a place, is indeed paradoxical.
Covid-19 has indeed turned lives upside down.
