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Buoyed by the favourable growth forecast for the India economy, in recent years, India has seen a transformation in the domestic automotive industry. Changing consumer demands, rapidly changing technology and growth of online players are shaping the automotive industry in India.
The Internet and Marketing Association of India (IAMAI) in its recent report, states that the number of Internet users in India could cross 450 Mn by June 2020. The report says Internet penetration is at 60% in urban India, showcasing the increasing level of connectivity. With increased Internet penetration and availability of multiple channels, industry players are able to substantially increase their customer touch points by the creation of online or web-based platforms.
The impact of the growth of online players in the automotive industry is significant, as most of the customers are showing interest in online platforms and services offered by them. The services being offered by these portals include new car sales, car servicing, and maintenance. These portals which are getting increasingly popular are not only helping the customers but have also given a new tool to the industry.
Standardisation
The evolution of the automobile industry through online integration is significant, in the sense that it is paving way for standardisation of the industry. Customers can rest assured that they are getting a transparent & good deal, along with quality services.
Analytics
Nowadays, data is converted into a corporate asset which keeps the track of the consumer preferences and automobile usage. This helps in customer acquisition, retention and better quality of services. It provides efficiency in all aspects of automobile servicing thereby assuring timely delivery to the customers and better customer experience. Tools like big data analytics are being used in a big way for analysing customer data.
Price Benefits
Online players focus on innovative ways to provide customer benefits and price is one of the key factors which attract customers to these platforms. Upfront and transparent are the new buzz words which are now ruling the roost. Not only this, attractive discounts are also being offered by the online platforms through the efficient use inventory available across the dealers and by tracking the loopholes existent in the offline industry.
Convenience
These online players offer great convenience to the customers by saving their time and money as customers can get all the information and offers sitting at the comfort of their homes than by visiting showrooms and workshops physically. Services like free pick-and-drop, insurance, and loan facility and EMI are available on these platforms which make it a one-stop shop for the customers.
Conclusion
Online players in the automotive industry have given the much-needed push to the automotive industry in India. Through different online channels industry has become more organised and customer-oriented.
With a focus on social media and innovative promotion tools such as online product display, web-based players are now providing best deals to the customers.
About The Author
[The author of this post is Prateek Gupta, co-founder of GrabGuru, a virtual service provider, facilitating the process of buying a new car.]
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