Mercedes Benz has finally implemented the futuristic and highly customer-centric ‘Retail of the Future’ business model today. This model was first announced in June 2021. Following this, it was launched by Martin Schwenk and Santosh Iyer after the successful beta testing phase from the brand’s Metro Auto Hangar dealership in South Mumbai.
With this direct-to-customer model, the luxury automaker will be retaining the ownership of the entire stock of cars and retail them via the appointed franchise partners. It will further be invoiced directly to the customers. With Retail-of-the Future, the company will set one price that will be uniform across the country. Besides focusing entirely on customer convenience, this model aims to bring a bouquet of industry-first practices to Indian customers. Now the customers will not have to pay any accidental charges for their purchase anymore. In addition, the customers will have direct access to the national stock thereby giving them higher visibility to select their desired product from the market. Apart from these, Mercedes will also be offering a VIN number to the customer during the order booking stage.
“In June 2021, we announced a disruptive retail business model which is highly customer-centric and promised a seamless, Omnichannel and transparent experience to our customers. Today, we are proud to implement the ‘Retail of the Future’ in India after successfully establishing a robust digital backbone, which will support this significant transition in our retail business. ROTF is a unique customer-centric business model, which caters to the evolving trends of our customers while empowering our Franchise Partners by significantly reducing their financial and operational risks in the market. ROTF further supports our quest toward creating customer excellence as the Franchise Partners will now solely compete on providing a superlative customer experience. With ROTF, we have created a completely unified customer journey experience with many industry-first initiatives to its credit. For the first time in India, there are no incidental or extra charges for the customers. Customers now have direct access to Mercedes-Benz India’s national stock with a wide variety of inventory choices. ROTF is a step in the right direction in getting closer to our customers, and a result of listening to their wishes and evolving requirements. As the most trusted luxury brand in the country, we have set a new standard in customer centricity, a new benchmark in Franchise Partners’ profitability and introduced a new culture of competing only for the best customer experience,” as commented by Martin Schwenk, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India.
Mercedes Benz India has also introduced an online Digital Commercial Platform(DCP) which will ensure a seamless online journey for customers where they can easily book a Mercedes car on their own. The retail-of-the-Future will only be applicable for new cars. It will not alter the functioning of separate business lines including customer service, allied businesses, and pre-owned cars.
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