Volkswagen India rolls out its online retail platform
In keeping with the current trend of digitisation and taking retail activities online, Volkswagen India becomes the latest automotive company to launch its digital platform offering sales and services experiences to its customers. This new online retail platform hopes to deliver a virtual experience for all VW products to customers from the convenience of their homes. Volkswagen claims this will be a simple, hassle-free end-to-end contact-less experience and customers will now be able to choose the car, speak to sales representatives and also get advice on financing options, all from this online platform
Commenting on the initiative, Steffen Knapp, director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India said, “At Volkswagen, digitalisation has been the core principle of our strategies. With the launch of our simple, secure and user-friendly online retail platform, we are pushing the boundaries of end-to-end retail sales and strengthening our commitment to customers. We aim to provide our customers the flexibility in choosing their preferred Volkswagen product through a contact-less channel.”
Volkswagen India has worked with its 137 sales and 116 and service touchpoints all over the country to integrate them into this online experience. Customers can now also book service products via the Volkswagen India website, while at the same time browse through the entire VW range and take note of the relevant pricing information also displayed on the site.
As for the servicing side, Volkswagen will offer pick up and drop services based on the customer’s convenience and all of this will be verified and authenticated through an OTP (one time password) generated by the preferred dealership of the customers choice.
The current lockdown situation and the pandemic outbreak has really pushed automotive manufacturers to come out with innovative solutions to help them deal with the customers and prospective customers in a timely manner and not lose out on opportunities in terms of sales and service requirements.
Volkswagen joins the likes of its fellow German manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz and BMW who have also gone with online retail platforms to offer customers a hassle-free experience during this sensitive time. Most manufacturers were on track to get into the e-commerce and digital retail markets online, but due to this the lockdown, many of them have sped up the process for digitisation, to ensure their services are uninterrupted.
